As the title of this blog suggests, I can't remember how many times I've been to the writing center to do my shadowing! I can't believe it's almost the end of the semester, and I have tons of final papers and projects due and finals to study for :(
Anyhow, today in the writing center we worked on a paper that was already very well developed, but the student wanted to come to the writing center so he could improve the flow of his paper as well as word choice. The consultant quickly went over the essay, which was about relationships in terms of sociology.
Because the consultant thought the essay was well developed and only needed some small adjustments, he started talking about adding content so the essay would be more cohesive. He discussed summarizing the ideas that are brought up in the paper more, so his analysis of these ideas would be more cohesive. Additionally, the consultant brought up ideas that related to his topic that he learned from his background in philosophy. I'm excited to start working as a writing consultant, not only to help students with their writing, but it will also be fun to learn about new topics.
I like how clearly you write about your consultation shadowing. I agree with this post in that it will be definitely be enjoyable to help someone formulate ideas. For me, when it comes to the writing process, brainstorming, planning, and outlining are my favorite parts because it allows me the opportunity to get my ideas out without the difficulty of formulating those ideas into a cohesive paper for an audience to understand. So when a student comes into the writing center, I think (for me at least) that it might be a little difficult to resist just "giving" them ideas knowing I don't actually have to write the paper versus prompting them to formulate their own ideas.
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