Monday, September 17, 2007

Make-Up Assignments

8/31: Summary Writing and Revising (Cushman Article)

My summary has both strengths and weaknesses. Overall, I think it is effective because it is well-structured and thorough. It substantiates the author's claims with relevant examples and clear elaboration. However, I probably could have benefited from explaining things more "in my own terms." In some places, it still sounds more like I am paraphrasing the author and less like I am constructing my own interpretations of the text. This is something I should definitely focus on when writing future summaries. I think this is a problem that many students have and it is something I hope to improve over the course of this semester.


When summarizing Cushman's article, one purpose could be to educate public intellectuals. Cushman feels that they are ignoring the communities which need help the most. I would revise my summary by focusing more on Cushman's arguments and less on explaining terminology and concepts. When the audience changes, so does the goal of the summary and thus the focus of the summary needs to be revised.

Another purpose of summarizing Cushman's article could be to better understand the content. A summary provides readers with the "meat" of the article. In some cases, students can get tripped up trying to understand vocabulary and wordy sentences. By eliminating this problem, it would allow them to focus more on their responses and less on trying to understand the original material. In order to do this, I would break down my summary even more. I would focus only on main ideas and less on small detail.

9/4 Practice Conference

Although I did not have the opportunity to participate in the practice conference, I have participated in peer conferences before. In this respect, I understand the importance of speaking and listening. In order for a conference to be successful, students must be willing to spend equal amounts of time speaking and listening. The keyword here is "equal." In some cases, students will want to participate by "taking charge," but this is the wrong way to approach peer tutoring. The relationship needs to be reciprocal. Personally, this is something I often have a problem doing. I have a tendency to take the "leader" role, which may be good in most things but is undoubtedly bad when used in peer tutoring. This being said, I will proceed in this tutoring practicum by constantly assessing my role and my participation. I do not want to fall into old habits and sabotage the potential for my client's success.

I have never had many problems with criticism, so that is definitely a plus. I understand that it is important to focus on what is and isn't working. I think I can attribute this understanding to my role as the oldest child in my family. I have helped my sisters with homework assignments and I learned quickly that being overbearing is incredibly destructive. In my experience, it is best to take a passive role and respond only when the client is looking for a response. If I constantly offer up my opinions, how can the client possibly create some of her own?

1 comment:

bMerle said...

nobody commented on this article, so I thought I would give you that little moral booster which whispers: "keep up the good work".