Observations

Observation #1

Thursday, February 6th, 1:00 PM-2:00 PM

The day I did my writing center observation it was raining, which is not unusual for Long Island. Rain often means darkness and gloom, and an odd atmosphere will roll in with the storm. Things always feel infinitely worse when it’s raining, there has to be some science backing that.

Walking towards the writing center, I prepared myself for an uncomfortable hour sitting in silence while people continually asked if I needed anything. I worked as a server, I know how repetitive that routine gets. I wasn’t entirely looking forward to my observation (sorry, Andrea!) because of this, and as someone who admittedly has never been in the center for a tutoring session, my anxiety began to get the best of me.

Walking into the physical room, you immediately forget that it’s raining. Although the lights are the harsh fluorescents of any school, they seem to cast a soft glow across everything. The walls are shades of white and gray, and tables are spread out across the room, not too many to feel cluttered, but enough to hold a sizable amount of students. 

There is warmth to the space. In some ways, it reminds me of my high school library. A place where I could go to hide between classes, where I could avoid handing in sloppy or late homework, where I could step in to take a breath during days that seemed to have no end in sight. The writing on the walls gives a sense of friendship, of familiarity. Most of the writing is tutors speaking to one another, asking which days are best for staff bonding, boasting different events and organizations tutors are a part of, just normal topics of conversation between friends. 

Walking into this room I was filled with anxiety. I would be sitting in someone’s way or I would be too loud or be in the wrong place. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Most of the tutors greeted me with smiles and nods, filling the room with their presence, their laughter. Walking into the writing center feels immediately comforting and puts one at ease.

The comforting nature of Hofstra’s writing center reminded me of Mundy, and how he opened The Politics of “I Got It” with talk of the writing center physically and the stressed students in attendance. He describes the physical center as being “a tiny space nestled on the first floor” (Mundy, 126). While I know that’s just a tiny snippet of text, and a vague description of the building, it does evoke some feelings of calmness and quaintness, as it’s “tiny” and “nestled.” Perhaps I’m reading into it, but that line did leave me with a smile on my face. 

Obviously, the tutors have that same feeling. There is never a shortage of noise and laughter. It’s nice. It’s not an overwhelming sound, but one of comfort. Being in a tutoring session and being surrounded by noise makes things better for me, personally. Being surrounded by kind laughter makes everything seem suddenly okay.

Perhaps now, I should discuss the tutors themselves. Only one actual tutoring session occurred during my hour stay in the writing center, but 7 tutors were on the schedule. One of them, giving an actual session, three of them clustered together at a table, and the final 3 (plus Andrea and Marilyn) sat at the table beside me for a meeting regarding a conference presentation.

In the corner table, the first one you see when you walk into the room, two tutors sit. They’re both relaxed, computers out and a million tabs open. They’re talking about Marvel movies, laughing and arguing over how the final installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s ten-year-reign was, whether or not it lived up to the hype. A third tutor eventually joins the group, and their conversation flows with comfort and ease. They crack jokes and reference moments of friendship with one another. Their laptops all open as they type furiously and cackle delightedly. They workshop writing with one another, clearly bored by the lack of tutees so early in the semester.

The tutors at the table next to me begin their meeting by catching up, sharing jokes and chatting in another seemingly regular instance of warmth and friendship within these four walls. I can’t remember their exact purpose of meeting, but I know it was regarding a student conference and the presentations that would subsequently go with it. As Andrea opened discussion, the group eased in and out of productivity with practiced ease. Interjecting occasionally with jokes or anecdotes, laughing and grinning at one another. 

Soon, the conversation turned to the topic of pronouns, something I am incredibly interested in. They discussed the normalization of introducing pronouns while introducing oneself, and how although to cis people it seems unnecessary, it makes life just the slightest bit easier for transgender people. This was interesting for me to listen to, as I plan on pursuing gender identity and the gender binary within the writing center as my project for the rest of the semester.

Observing the two different groups of tutors, I recalled the subsection of chapter 2 titled “Writing centers as Sites” which touches upon fostering a sense of community within the writing center, “… in other words, reflecting on it in this manner focuses our attention on the groups of people who come into contact with one another in that locale” (Fitzgerald & Ianetta,14). I thought this perfectly encapsulated my hour in the writing center, because people of varying ages and identities were all gathered together, enjoying one another’s presence both outwardly and inwardly. The focus of my writing center observation was more on the tutors themselves, and the way they interacted with one another to form a community.

As my hour observation came to an end and I prepared myself for class (this class, in fact), I tried to collect my thoughts. Although only one tutoring session was occuring, and I wasn’t able to really listen to what was going on, I was able to get a sense of what life is like inside of the writing center. Although it is a space of working, of helping others, of tutoring, it is also a space of warmth, of familiarity, of friendship.

While leaving, I heard someone say, “Writing centers being a place where we can engage that discomfort and disruption in ways that are productive and safe.” I believe this perfectly encapsulates the Hofstra University writing center. While it’s loud and bustling, it is productive and welcoming.

This of course immediately made my brain scream, “TRICKSTER! THAT’S TRICKSTER!” To specify, in Trickster at Your Table, trickster is described as being able to “personify chaos, the disorderly order inherent in all systems” (Geller, 16). This quote struck me from the first time I read trickster, and I used it in my initial blog post. There is something so wonderful about using chaos as a positive, as a facet needed in a writing center to find understanding and collaboration.

There is so much more to say on the writing center, I still have pages of notes left untouched during my one hour visit. Although I wasn’t able to really observe an actual session, I was lucky enough to see the dynamics between tutors of varying identities and levels of professionalism. As I’ve said truly one thousand times, the writing center is a place of warmth and comfort, and it’s a place I’m excited to be able to find a home in.

Works Cited:

Fitzgerald, Lauren, and Melissa Ianetta. The Oxford Guide for Writing Tutors. Oxford UP, 2016.

Geller, Anne Ellen, et. al. The Everyday Writing Center. Utah State UP, 2006.

Mundy, Robert. “The Politics of ‘I Got It’”: Intersections, Performances, and Rhetorics of Masculinities in the Center.” Out in the Center: Public Controversies and Private Struggles, edited by Harry Denny, Robert Mundy, Liliana Naydan, Richard Severe, and Anna Sicari, Utah State UP, 2019, pp. 126-139.

Observation #2

As per most things in my life, I had truly no plan when it came to this tutoring session, just that I had a very rough draft for my Flow assignment and that I at some point would definitely need a completed Flow assignment. Previously, I worked with a different tutor to organize the entire piece, so now it was organized and semi-coherent, just with some big missing chunks at the beginning and the ending. Obviously, I was unorganized, I was stressed, and I was not in the least bit prepared for this tutoring session.

The tutor I ended up meeting with was William, and I fear I may have cheated on this assignment a bit because William and I are housemates. So we were able to skip over all the awkward introductions and pleasantries that usually take up a neat chunk at the beginning of any session. I, of course, did my due diligence to keep William off track for a few moments, simply because I love to self-sabotage at any given moment. However, much to his credit and in proving that he’s a great tutor, William immediately got me back on track. 

As I already mentioned, I had just previously worked on my first rough draft to morph it into more of a finalized version of my assignment, so I was stumped on what I needed to do next. William first suggested that we just use that time for me to write and for him to hold me accountable, which goes to show how well he knows me. I turned that down because I suppose I’m pretty lazy and I didn’t want to write productively at that moment. We then instead both re-read over the piece and William seemingly introduced me to what Fitzgerald and Ianetta in The Oxford Guide for Writing Tutors call scaffolding, 

“Scaffolding refers to a learning situation in which an older or more experienced person… guides another person… through a particular task by interesting her in it, breaking it down into doable but still challenging parts, supporting her through any frustrations, and “fading” near or at the completion of the task…” (65).

Scaffolding, in that moment, was precisely what I needed to maintain productivity and continue working on my piece. He first praised the piece, saying it was well-done and I could probably begin to convert it into paragraphs from what I’d written directly. Then, he broke it down by noting what I needed to work on: the introduction, research proposal component, and conclusion. Then, I took the rest of the session to work on each of the broken up parts, all while William talked me through it and continued to keep me focused. I began to feel passion again towards my work and was excited to begin working on a research proposal and perhaps even a full research project in the fall.

At the end of the session, I had the beginning semblances of an introduction and a conclusion and left feeling much better about the future of my assignment. I felt for the first time since I began work on the piece, that I could be proud of it, and that I was confident entirely in the direction it was heading. Working with William was really wonderful. He, of course, is a close friend of mine so before I even know what I needed to work on, William did. I was pleased with the final product and got so much more done than I had expected, especially considering I was trying to get very little done, subconsciously. 

Although I would’ve much preferred an in-person session, this tutoring session was useful because I got to see a glimpse at what online tutoring is like, and became familiar with all of the different gadgets and uses the online system has to offer. As well as this, being able to go back and see exactly what William and I did to the physical document has been useful for this observation, and my Flow assignment as I move into the final stages. 

Works Cited:

Fitzgerald, Lauren, and Melissa Ianetta. The Oxford Guide for Writing Tutors. Oxford UP, 2016.