Saturday, February 5, 2011
Most rewarding things about being a consultant
Hi everyone,
Just a note of encouragement for all of us consultants; the client is helped, but we are helped too! I have found that being a writing consultant is one of the most personally satisfying and rewarding things you could ever do, in the sense that you can see visible results in a client.
So I have jotted down some of the coolest moments you will get to have as a writing consultant..
They say:
-"Thank you, I understand so much more now."
- "I never knew that, thank you."
-"You know that paper you helped me with? I got a 96%."
-"My second language is English, and meeting with you cleared many things up for me."
-"You know that internship application you helped me review, I got the job!"
Or, even better, you can actually see how their writing is improved
You observe:
-No more sentence fragments
-No more comma splices
-Better use of singular/plural endings for ESL students
-The client is able to write a great paper based just off a brainstorming session
What are some of the best things you have noticed about being a consultant?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
If it were not for reciprocity, the give and take of consulting, most of us would become weary. In Truth and Method, Hans Georg Gadamer introduced readers to the concept of language play, where participants get lost in the to and fro. Have you experienced a 40 minute consultation that seemed to last only 5 minutes? Have you found yourself being challenged to think deeply about a topic by the words on the page? Have you come to have respect for a student writer whose ideas resonate with you? Please join Rebecca in sharing these moments and others.
Another rewarding aspect of consulting is seeing students who first came to the writing center their freshman year and seeing them develop as students, community members and most importantly, as writers throughout their academic career. I have been fortunate enough to have worked at the writing center for a few years and have seen some students start and end their college careers (i.e. graduating) at Oakland. It is so nice to see familiar faces and hear compliments from long time clients about how they thought about quitting school or giving up until they came to the writing center to get the additional help they needed. Many times I don't work with them from start to finish, but I do see them on campus and at the round tables in the orange section of the library during which I cast a smile and a friendly wave and even engage in some small talk to catch up. I hope there are others who can see consultants grow from semester to semester and even year to year.
I would like to hear more discussion about other rewarding experiences!
As I walked into the corner of the library that usually reminds me of a clementine orange, I took a deep breath as I realized that it was my second day working at the writing center! Now I know this seems anti-climatic with all of this "2nd day" business flying around, but the first day I had no appointments. I watched Ron eerily quiet as he unlocked the shelves, wiggled the mouse, and hang his coat as I anticipated my first appointment (which I saw was coming from the day before).
'How should I open my appointment?' I thought to myself. I began opening my brain's filing cabinets to grab the chapter on how to start appointments. Joke?-- Hey, How are you?-- My name is Josh, What's yours?-- Are you really going to trust me with your fate?
A student walked in, and I must admit that my heart sank to my over-worn Sketchers. She leaned over, signed giving Ron his cue. Ron spun around in his rotating tan chair and said, "That's your appointment." (Ron probably thought I was quite creepy...perhaps he though I was a giant mute).
About 40 short minutes later, I strolled back to the welcoming desk with a smile on my face. 'I can be good at this,' I told myself. What was I so worried about? I can connect with people, in fact, I love doing that. To me, this is the beautiful thing about my job. I connect and learn from others each day at the Writing Center. The most rewarding appointments are the ones that I struggle with the most because I'm forced to dive deep into the unknown with the client and express to them that I don't know the answers, but I take the opportunity to learn. I also am able to connect with my fellow workers as we joke, josh, and have a jolly good ole' time.
--
Later that semester that first client strolled back in for another appointment with me.
"Back again?" I asked.
"Yeah, another paper," she explained.
We sat down and to make a long story very short, she announced that she got a 4.0 on her last paper that we worked on together.
I must say, not only was it a tremendously good feeling to hear about her success, but it was more satisfying that she scheduled with me again. It gave us the opportunity to connect more as humans. What a blessing this job is.
Lastly, the point is, be yourself out there. If you want to crack a joke with the client, crack it. If you feel like you need to lean back to listen to what they are saying then do so. We're all looking for the same things. Connections with others.
Josh is right, he must have recently just finished reading Bruffee and his article on collaborative learning where he states, "collaborative learning personalizes knowledge by socializing it, providing students with a social context of learning peers with whom they are engaged on conceptual issues (745).
In essence, we were taught skills in the peer tutoring and composition course that can help guide the social movement of collaboration, while honing our own writing skills and becoming aware of them so we can share our insight and strategies and infuse them in the conversation.
Another point to bring to attention is that at the base, peer tutoring is conversation, the sharing of information with other peers, although it is important to make the distinction between talking and conversation. Because consultants have a special knowledge and insight into the writing process, there runs the risk of 'talking' to clients and not 'conversing' about their writing or ideas.
I have learned that if I don't learn something new each and every session, then I was talking and not conversing, and because I value knowledge, I have taught myself the important skill of conversation and continue to expand and improve on it every day.
Peace,
Genevieve
Wow, cool points Genevieve and Josh! Great insight Genevieve about how there is a differnece between talking to a clinet and actually conversing with them. Nice imagery there Josh about that first day!
Post a Comment