Response to BG: Chapters 3 & 4

First of all, my apologizes for not writing as many blogs as I should have been in the past few weeks...I'm working on it! :)

The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors (4th ed.), Chapters 3 & 4

From the very beginning of Chapter three, I felt that the text was informing us of many things we already know or do, partly by using common sense and courtesy in a tutoring session. However, when I got to chapter four, I felt the same thing but I also walked away with a little bit more valuable information. Chapter four seemed to provide more of an insight to techniques that could help me as a tutor understand the different types of students coming in, as well as teach students to recognize their own mistakes and not necessarily hold their hand the entire way.
The chapter started off by talking about brainstorming, one of the first things to do in order to help a writer get started in the writing process. This is probably one of my favorite parts. To me, it is a time that is open, free and ready for ideas to start coming together (kind-of like a game plan). It can be fun (most of the time)! Another thing they discuss in the book is freewriting. Something I have noticed with students and myself at times, is the difficulty in getting my thoughts out of my head and onto paper (or the computer). To help clients with this problem, I often tell them to just write without stopping. Do not worry about grammar, misspelled words, etc., just write your thoughts out and then come back later and break them up, fix them, or piece them together with common thoughts, etc. However, the book gave the example of darkening the screen of a computer, if that is what they (the students, clients) are working on. This is so that they cannot worry or get caught up on reviewing their work. I have mixed feelings about this though. Part of me feels this could be a great technique, but the other the part feels it could drive students crazy and not let them see anything that is remotely tangible. Nevertheless, the technique is something to consider.
When the writer (student, client) starts to actually write out their plan it is also important to make sure they have clarified who their audience is, what they are trying to address to that audience, and their goal for the paper. This will help with organization. As I read on throughout the chapter I stumbled upon many other useful or catchy techniques. For instance, I liked the idea mentioned in Chapter four of being a "naive reader" (47). Sometimes, by stepping away from the topic of a clients paper and sort-of playing an "unaware" persona, it allows the writer to explain things more in depth, take another look at what they wrote and how they explained it, as well as receive an outsiders point of view. Another thing I liked, which is something I already try practicing in sessions, is finding an error or problem, explaining it to the student, and then turning them lose (kind-of) to spot the same mistakes later. When done correctly, students can kind-of become their own personal tutors at times, finding their mistakes, and knowing how to handle them correctly for the future. WIth this technique, I have found that often times, students sort-of become excited (at times more than others) that they can recognize their own mistakes and quickly correct without being told to do so; however, it also puts a smile on my face because I feel like I was able to teach something that can help them. I dunno, it's an exciting thing among many other successes! The trick is to make them (the student, client, writer, etc.) remember it!

There were many other things I learned from the chapters but the ones above seemed like a few of the highlights! However, I will say that all of the examples of the different situations of writers and tutors was interesting as well! I thought it was funny that there were so many examples to try or act out! :) It's like improv (msp?)!!!