I have become more proficient at my skills entering consultant session information into the writer database, and filing consultation files away. Luckily, I am proficient at alphabetizing after many years of extensive training. And I am very intrigued by the wealth of books and information available at the center geared toward better writing. I personally want to gain more experience using APA and Chicago style formatting, as I have only actually used MLA in my year of collegiate experience. So, when I do have free time, I can focus on learning writing skills by perusing the wealth of information available at the center. And I can pick the brains of the more experienced consultants who have been there and done that.
As well as student self-development, I have the opportunity to observe consultation sessions between seasoned consultants and student writers, in order to see how experienced consultants conduct themselves and handle writers’ questions during the session. I have been lucky enough to sit in on three different consultations during the last week and saw three very different styles of consulting. My first session was with Kelsey and a student who was to write a reading response on Beowulf. He wanted clarification on how to figure out his outline and for some help in getting ideas about how he should approach his paper. I noticed that Kelsey displayed lots of body language that encouraged the writer’s participation, and she did a great job of actively listening to him. The trick, in my opinion, is to help the writer develop confidence and guide them through proper questioning techniques into realizing what they need to do on their own. It may sound sneaky, but you want to give them ideas while making them think they came up with the ideas by themselves. Kelsey used lots of eye contact and asked relevant questions while inviting the writer to feel comfortable enough to express his true opinions without fear of being judged. She read over the syllabus with the student and prompted him to freely throw out ideas, which helped him narrow the focus of his paper down.
My next consultation was with Carmen. She was working with a student who was very uncomfortable and lacked confidence in his writing. His task was a self-assessment of his writing style for Eng 101. Carmen read over the syllabus and asked questions of the writer in order to help him identify the requirements that his instructor was looking for. She also used eye contact and her expressions/nonverbal communication made the writer feel at ease. The most impressive thing that I believed she did was to have the writer read a previous story from Eng 101 that he had written. From this, she was able to point out positive things that he had accomplished with the story and helped him to realize that he was pretty good at this whole ‘writing thing’. She also helped him to freely throw out ideas on the direction that he wanted his current assignment to take. He left the consultation feeling much better about his skills as a writer.
My last observation was with Nick and a writer who is a regular at the Writing Center. It was interesting as it was my first opportunity to witness a consultation with and ESL writer. Since the writer had seen Nick before, there was an obvious comfort level there and Nick did a great job of encouraging the writer in his progress. Nick mainly focused on some grammatical errors and explained how terms are used differently in American literature and society. Nick helped the writer figure out the assignment which was a Comm 101 assignment and helped clarify some communication terms, such as ‘ambushing’.
I really enjoy seeing the different styles of consultants and am learning little things that I like from each consultant that I plan to incorporate into my ‘writing consultant toolbox’. I feel as if I am only going to get better and look forward to seeing other consultants in action.
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