Memo #6

I am feeling confident about where I am this far in my research. I have been able to interview the following individuals: the RIC writing center director, a first year tutor at RIC, a tutor at NPHS, a tutee at NPHS, and the two faculty directors at NPHS. I have also tracked down two articles that focus on writing centers in secondary schools. I am convinced that writing centers should be implemented at the secondary level, as well at the post-secondary level.

My most recent interviews with the folks at NPHS really proved to me that writing centers play a key role in not only improving students writing, but also in creating a safe space for students.  The tutor I was able to interview was a senior and has been tutoring for three years. For privacy purposes, I will refer to her as Kim. When I asked Kim what she enjoyed most as a tutor, I got a different answer then I expected. I imagined she would take credit for helping other students improve their writing, but instead she told me her favorite part about tutoring is that she can be herself, and that the Writing Center is a safe learning environment. Although this was an unexpected answer, it lead me to realize how a safe learning environment can positively impact the writing experience for the students who utilize the WC. I also was able to find a scholarly article titled The Writing Center as a Key Actor in Secondary School Preparation, which argues that “The writing center enables students to focus on writing as a process in a creative, supportive environment (Tobin 230). I believe that this “safe space” environment factors in to the reason why writing centers are so helpful for students. When students feel safe, they feel that their writing is not being judged. Therefore, they are able to share their work and let their writing be open for constructive criticism. This environment enables students to learn because they can be open and honest about their struggles with writing, and they can engage in a one on one conversation to talk through writing strategies and how they can improve. This truly is a unique learning environment, one that is not typically accessible in common classrooms.

As a researcher, I can conclude that writing centers are effective in many different ways, and should be implemented at a secondary level. Even though the individuals I interviewed at NPHS were using a writing center at a secondary level, versus the RIC Writing Center, I was still able to find many similarities between the two. All of the directors strongly believe in what they are doing and that the writing center is beneficial for tutors and tutees. Also, both tutors from RIC and NPHS believe they have grown from working at the WC in multiple ways. Their writing and social skills have improved based on their experiences as tutors. They also have realized their true potential, and have gained confidence in themselves from working as tutors. I believe it is hard to truly measure just how many positive outcomes and gains come with writing centers; there are simply too many to measure. This project has motivated me to work as hard as I can to implement a writing center at which ever school I work at. My only frustration is that not enough high schools are doing this. I want to find a way to get the word out, and make an effort to have all schools work to implement writing centers. There are some obstacles that may interfere with this task, but they are not hard to undertake, and the outcome will be worth all the fight.

Memo 4

This week I was able to interview the director of RIC's Writing Center. When meeting with this professor, I was glad to notice that she is  both passionate and enthusiastic about her work at the WC, and she truly believes that the WC is making a difference in the lives of students who use it. During the interview, I learned that the director of RIC's Writing Center has been working a total of eight years in different writing centers. She worked at another local University for a year in which the faculty did the tutoring, rather than peer tutors. I found it interesting that she has experience both being a writing center tutor, and as a director of the writing center. This lead me to my next question for her, which was, "Do you believe that students benefit more from having a peer tutor, versus working with professors?" She informed me that research shows that ELL students, or exchange students learn more from working with faculty members, veers peer tutors. However, she insured me that the majority of students do better working with a peer tutor versus a professor, and the one on one tutoring style really is the key element is helping students improve their writing. She went on to elaborate on peer tutoring, and that research shows that students benefit more from working with someone else who is in a similar position as them, and that the pressure on the tutee is much lower. I thought this made sense, because it is hard to work against that teacher to student barrier that exists. It is easier to work one on one with someone who can relate to the demands of being in college, and any prior experience they may have for taking similar classes. These students who work at the Writing Center can serve as role models for the clients they tutor, versus a professor who the student probably cannot connect to as well. 

I then went to ask the director if she believed that peer tutors also benefit and improve their writing from experiences of working with clients at the writing center. This question applied to her in two ways, sense she served as a faculty tutor at URI before switching to director at RIC. She was confident that the answer is yes, not only tutees, but tutors are also benefit and learn from their experiences. She expressed that even as a faculty tutor, she learned many things from her tutoring sessions that she did not know before. She also made me realize more than I was asking, that not only do these tutoring sessions teach education, they also teach both tutor and tutee how to connect with other people on an intimate level. Peer tutors and repeat clients who continue to work one on one with another individual, teaches social skills and even professionalism. This made me reflect on my own experiences as a tutor, and what I have learned from my one on one appointments. I agree that I have learned more about writing as a peer tutor than I ever imagined I would have. 

My next line of questions for the director were all related to my big idea, should writing centers be implemented at the secondary level? The director seemed to think that yes, if they can take place then they absolutely should. During our conversation she brought me to the realization that there are many obstacles that most be overcome before starting a writing center, especially at a secondary level. Some of the main tasks would be to figure out who will be the staff of the writing center, and how will the staff get compensated for their hours? I think one way that this can be done without running into budgeting problems would be to reward peer tutors in credits, rather than money, in a public school setting at least. Private schools may have the funds to pay tutors, but in a public school, chances are that paying tutors will not be an option in a tight budget. I would also think that the staff member who is directing the writing center will need to be paid overtime unless they are willing to volunteer, which may or may not be an option at some schools. She also stressed that getting a space to put the writing center in may be difficult during they day. I was also to obtain a list of questions that must be answered before a writing center can be implemented, which opened my eyes to all the different requirements that must be met in order to implement a writing center. 

FInally, our conversation ended with the director of RIC's Writing Center commenting on how important writing centers are, especially at a diverse college like RIC. She is convinced that writing centers do indeed improve the writing of both tutors, and tutee, especially repeating clients. She informed me that multiple professors have expressed to her the improvement they see in their students after they visit the writing center. She also noted that if writing centers were not useful, than many clients would not return, but they do. I was able to obtain statistics for RIC's Writing Center for the Fall of 2013, which shows there were 1522 booked session hours, and this was only from a total of 390 students, confirming that most students come back for more appointments to help even further improve their writing. She also shared emails with me from professors to students which talked about the improvement in writing that has occurred since the students visited the writing center. If I wasn't positive before that writing centers were crucial before this interview, I certainly am now.
        I also was able to interview a tutor at RIC's Writing Center. I emailed her questions and got this back:

1. Have you noticed an improvement in your own writing since working at the writing center? How so?

     Yes, I have definitely noticd an impovement in my own writing since I began working at the writing center. Because I have become so used to finding errors or simply ways to impove structure, I am more easily able to find these issues in my own writing.

2. Have you worked with certain clients exclusively? (Repeat appointments)

    I have had several repeat appointments, although I do not know whether or not other tutors worked with them.

3. Have you noticed these clients improve their writing over a period of time? How so?

   Absolutely. Last semester I had a client that I met with every week, and I could watch her confidence in her writing improve every time we met. Also there are a few ESL students who have impoved greatly, especially with using tenses.

4. Do you think the writing center is helpful for all students who use it? Why or why not?

    Definitely. Even for students with strong writing skills, the writing center provides a safe space to work and it can always be helpful to have an extra pair of eyes.

At this point in my research I will be meeting with both tutors and tutees from North Providence's Writing Center, and from a repeat client at RIC's Writing Center this upcoming Thursday. I believe I will hear similar testimonies from all my sources, proving that writing centers are indeed important in order to improve students writing and that they should be implemented at the secondary level.I also have found a couple of secondary sources that talk about writing centers and why they are beneficial for students who use them. I am excited to learn more about what it takes to implement a writing center at a high school, and hopefully my interviews at NPHS will give me a better idea on what has to be done in order for every high school to follow this model. 

Memo #3

        In order to discover the positive correlation between writing centers and improved student writing, I will use multiple primary sources. I will first be interviewing Professor Griggs, who is the director of the writing center here at RIC. I will asked her questions such as: How do you measure success at the writing center? What evidence shows that the writing center is beneficial to students who use it? Do you believe writing centers can be just as effective at a secondary level and why? Etc. I will also interview a first year tutor at RIC’s writing center in order to learn how their writing has or has not improved since they started working as a tutor. I will ask questions such as: Have you noticed an improvement in your own writing since working at the writing center? Have you worked with certain clients exclusively? Have you noticed these clients improve their writing over a period of time? How so? Do you think the writing center is helpful for all students who use it? Etc. Additionally, I will interview a repeating client at RIC’s writing center to find out if visiting the center has helped them improve their writing. I will ask questions such as: How often do you visit the writing center? Has working with a peer tutor helped you to improve your writing? In what way? Do you think working with a tutor your own age is more helpful versus getting help from a professor? What are the pros and cons of the writing center? Do you think having a writing center available to you in high school would have been beneficial? Why? Etc. Although this is a college writing center and not a high school writing center, it still aligns with my burning question which is whether or not writing centers create better writers. However, in order to still keep my focus on the secondary level, I will conduct additional interviews with the director of the writing center at North Providence High School. The writing center at NPHS is fairly new, so I would like to learn if there is a noticed difference in improved writing since the center has been in place. I will ask questions such as: How is the writing center run? (Appointments, walk-ins, hiring process, etc.) How do you encourage students to use the writing center? Do you see a wide variety of students using the center, or is it mostly the same people time after time? How do you know that the writing center is helping to improve the writing of the students who use the center? Do you think peer tutors are also improving their writing by working one on one with their peers? I will also interview one or more of the peer tutors to hear their opinion on the writing center and hear testimony to why or why not the writing center is beneficial to both students who work there and students who use the center as a resource. I will ask questions such as: When did you start working as a tutor? What takes place during a typical session? Do you see an improvement in the students writing that you have worked with over time? In what other ways do students benefit from using this writing center? Do you think other high schools should implement writing centers? Why? Do you think your own writing has improved from working as a peer tutor? Etc.  

            As far as secondary sources, I will use a database from the RIC library catalog. I will also use sources that Professor Griggs has on file that advocate for writing centers and explain and prove why they are important. I will be looking for sources that not only advocate for writing centers, but that show evidence that they are indeed critical in improving students writing. I want to hear from the experts on what about writing centers makes them so beneficial for students. I want to learn exactly what about peer tutors makes them so effective to teaching other students. I will compare the findings in my secondary sources to my information gathered from my primary sources and come to a conclusion of my findings.  

Memo 2- Changed Topic!

Memo #2

           Although my original plan was to investigate the cognitive process that allows ELL student to become fluent in writing, I have been inspired to explore a new topic in its place. When attending the RIWP Conference, I visited a workshop that was run by two peer tutors at North Providence high school. The workshop was focused on teaching how to implement a writing center in secondary schools. Since I am currently a tutor at RIC’s Writing Center, I was very excited to learn that a local high school has had a positive experience with starting a writing center within their school. Until attending the workshop, it never occurred to me that writing centers can be beneficial in schools other than colleges and universities. During the workshop I was able to hear testimonials from the two students who worked as peer tutors for their writing center. They went over the basics Do’s and Don’ts of tutoring, and I was surprised to see that they use the same strategies to peer tutor that I do working in the RIC Writing Center. This lead me to think, how can secondary level writing centers be beneficial to both the student tutors, and the tutees? I want to explore this topic and speak to both the students who worked at the writing center, but also students who have visited the center, and also teachers who oversee the writing center. I want to find out if there has been results that link writing centers to improvement in students writing. If I find this to be true, I would then want to learn how to implement writing centers in more local secondary schools and make sure this is being done in order to benefit students.   

             I have been able to track down several scholarly articles for my I-search topic. I am interested in learning how writing centers in secondary schools can help improve the writing of students who utilize the center. I want to explore the ways writing centers help to positively assist, motivate and influence a school’s community. In order to find information on this topic, I explored Rhode Island College’s library databases. I used the database Education Full Text and was able to find several helpful scholarly articles. Specifically, I found articles that offer research findings that show a correlation between writing centers and improvement in students writing. I was excited to see that there a sources available that report the findings I was hoping to discover. One article in particular, listed several findings from a study conducted surveying students who use a high school writing center. Some of these findings included, significant improvement in GPA’s, improvement in performance, advancements in grammar skills, and improved test scores with students who utilized the writing center.  Another source I found examined the benefits of students who used the writing center, along with the benefits of peer tutors. The article also outlined how secondary schools writing centers can lead to college success, and expose students to a peer led learning experience, which can be rare. I was happy to see that every source I found reported the benefits of peer led writing centers. I did not find any negative comments about writing centers, but instead only positive results. Being a tutor at RIC’s Writing Center, I was intrigued by these results.

           Until the RIWP Conference I attended March 8^th, I had never thought of implementing a writing center at a secondary level. Using these articles as scholarly sources and the student volunteers and clients at local high school writing centers, will help me come to discover the overall academic gains that are linked to writing centers. I look forward to finding more sources and concrete evidence that proves the value of writing centers and why they are vital in secondary schools.

  

Research Memo 1

What is the cognitive process that takes place in ELL students that allows them to begin writing fluently in another language? This is the question that I am dedicated to finding an answer to. I came to this topic because I have recently been interested in teaching ELL students. As far as the process of teaching writing to ELL students, at this point I know very little about what takes place in ELL classrooms. Although I plan on earning an ELL certificate after I graduate, I have not yet taken any ELL courses. However, I am going to be observing several ELL classes in the near future at Central Falls high school, so hopefully I will get a better idea about what an ELL class looks like, and how these students are being taught to develop their writing skills in order to become fluent writers.  

Growing up in a school district that did not offer any ELL services, I was not exposed to the ELL program until my college years. Coming from a rural area, I was intrigued when learning that many of my friends at RIC spent years in the ELL program between middle and high school. My true interest in learning how ELL students begin writing in English sparked after witnessing a friend go from being able to produce hardly any spoken or written English, to speaking and writing fluently in only one year’s worth of schooling. I was, and still am stunned by how little time it took him to start speaking and writing papers fluently in English. Around this time last year I was helping him to write a short paragraph about himself in English. Today, he is able to write narratives easily with little effort, and he no longer has to translate his thoughts to English because he is now fluent in his second language. I find this amazing because I took Spanish in high school for four long years and was still not able to write fluently. I want to learn what needs to happen for students to make the leap from slowly writing in another language, to becoming a fluent writer. What was the key that lead my friend to become a fluent writer in English in such a short period of time versus my four years in taking another language?

ELL

Here is a short introductory video that questions how we can teach ELL students how to write fluently in English. Enjoy :)