JR 19

One of the best teachers I ever had was my first grade teacher, Mrs. Nagles. She was the first person that implemented reading as a core fundamental value of my identity. Each week, Mrs. Nagles would give me reading books and write encouraging notes inside the covers to motivate me to read. As I read these books on my own, I became an avid reader and eventually, an advanced writer. During my reading comprehension tests, my teacher would tell me about the progress I made and give me more challenging books to read. She pushed me beyond my limits. Even though I didn’t fall behind in school, she still believed in my ability to advance above my grade level. I attended a predominantly white school and they placed me in ESL just because I didn’t know the word “faucet.” From then I think my teacher wanted me to advance in the English language so she would constantly give me books to read.

A teacher I was not fond of in my high school career was my freshman math teacher. Math has always been a difficult subject for me to grasp but being in her class made math incomprehensible. Even when I would seek her help, she would not explain it in a way that I was able to understand. When I expressed this to her, she would simply repeat herself and I received a low passing grade in that course. I honestly believe that she did not care about her students or being a teacher altogether.

As a student I would characterize myself as a hard worker 90% of the time and a procrastinator 10% of the time. The reason being is because I am determined to achieve success in all areas of my life but I don’t always have the motivation to do it. I want to be the best I can be 100% of the time but as I’ve matured, I know that it is not attainable. Being a student is very demanding and you have to compromise areas in your life in order to stay sane.

JR 18

In the article, How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldúa , she describes her life as a Chicana; a person who is of Mexican descent in the United States and identifies pride in their Mexican and indigenous roots . She discusses the variations of the Spanish and English language and how they are used. Anzaldúa reveals that being Chicano and/or a person or color comes with economic struggle and how a person from this group does not identify with just one set of cultural values: it’s a mixture or collaboration of Anglo-American values and Mexican values. The author asserts that her language is the construct of her identity. She expresses how she wishes to write and speak freely, without having to accommodate to those who don’t understand her language.

8 languages I know:

  1. General Spanglish
  2. Millennial English
  3. Millennial Spanglish
  4.  Guatemalan Spanish
  5. Salvadorian Spanish
  6. Standard Mexican Spanish
  7.  Formal English
  8. Standard/formal Spanish

One of the languages that I feel has its privileges is Millennial Spanglish. I believe that it’s the one I have used the most in my lifetime. The Millennial part comes from the similar characteristics of that generation and the evolution of English colloquial or slang terms. Spanglish comes from meshing the general English language with the Spanish language when conversing. I often use Millennial Spanglish to communicate with my best friend and my family. It’s a way of keeping up the ever-evolving language of English but also a form of staying in touch with our roots. It allows me to connect with people closest to me without any barriers from the construct of both languages. Sometimes there is a word that can’t be directly translated because it doesn’t have the same meaning or weight in the other language. Millennial Spanglish is often very helpful with situations such as this because I can switch between two languages in the middle of word or sentence and the people that are bilingual will understand me. I feel that I can speak freely and enjoy a conversation if I can use both languages.

Anzaldúa’s view of language and bilingualism help us understand student-writers because by acknowledging that they have multiple parts to their identity, we are able to learn about their insecurities and challenges they have with writing in English. This might help us work with students because they may have not shared their struggles with writing to anyone before. As tutors, we are there to cultivate the empathy that will allow the student to be open to learning aspects of writing that are new to them. Like I said before, being pulled in two directions is difficult when one is trying to be accepted by both sides. One of the languages gets neglected in return for being an expert in the other. Or sometimes their knowledge and teaching of writing is vague in both languages so they experience difficulty when advancing. One of the students I work with is bilingual. She told me that she never advanced in writing during high school because no one worked with her one-on-one. English is her first language but because her parents are immigrants, she didn’t receive the help at home she needed to advance in English writing. I fully empathize with her because I went through the same situation and it is because of this that I break down the writing process as thoroughly as possible. I want her and other students like her to fully grasp college-level English writing so that they can succeed in their majors and careers.

 

JR 17

Reading this article was a lot different for me than my Anglo peers because I grew up in a bilingual household; I could understand everything written in Spanish. My parents are from Guatemala so my experience speaking two languages is unique to that of Guatemalan culture and American culture. Although, my mother grew up in Mexico for 7 years of her childhood so Mexican influences are present in my family. Being the baby of the family means that I am also third-generation and my way of speaking Spanish is its own. I have more insecurities speaking Spanish because it isn’t my first language and I wasn’t formally taught how to read and write in Spanish. I could certainly relate to Tex-Mex argot because integrating an English word at the beginning of word and combining it with Spanish was a way that I could communicate to my family. But a lot of my insecurities with speaking Spanish sprouted from this when I was a child. I was/still am la gringa of my family and often get made fun of for saying words in Spanish wrong or for merging the two languages.

Being integrated in two different cultures often feels like I am being pulled in two directions; each foot resting in a different culture, “No soy de aqui ni soy de alla.” I assimilated to American culture but because my parents are Guatemalan, I find it very burdensome to be accepted by both sides. I want to succeed in the United States but I don’t want to lose my heritage or my roots because that it is part of my identity. Losing myself in American culture is one of my biggest fears because I am in love with being Latina. It is empowering knowing where my family came from and how far my family has come to be where they are now. They have taught me the beauty of the struggle and to never give up. I want future generations to know the importance of fighting for their beliefs and having a strong sense of being part of two cultures. I don’t want them to be afraid to speak Spanish or have insecurities like I do because the language is wondrous and if they can be a part of both sides, they will realize that it is a rich and fulfilling life experience.

JR 16

I found it very beneficial to utilize the statements from flashcards 2 and 3 because it set the course for students who haven’t been to the writing center before. Though I must say that referring to flashcard number three about due dates would hinder my sessions with the students who came in a day before their assignment was due. Their attitudes towards me were more hostile and anxious because they would realize that they should’ve came to the writing center with enough time to address all of their concerns. In contrast, I had the opportunity to work with one student consistently throughout the week and flashcard number three was encouraging and rewarding. She and I had enough time to work through her content which helped her with structure. I addressed local issues after she came back with new work. We even had time to work on her reflection and developing an outline for that as well.

I believe that it was very fulfilling to work with this student throughout the course of the week because I saw her grow SO much. She is now taking advantage of the writing center for any writing project that she may have because she understands how tutors help her with the struggles she may have. Another part of her growth, which I believe is underrated, is acknowledging the specifics of how she is improving as a writer. Often times students don’t even know they are growing until someone shows them how they are growing. Through these flashcards, I cultivated a strong relationship with this student and look forward to working with her again.

JR 14

In the article, The Classroom and the Wider Culture: Identity as a Key to Learning English Composition, Fan Shen describes that his writing is influenced and impacted by his cultural environment. Shen expresses that English composition encourages individualism. This was unclear and difficult for him to grasp because in China, individualism is viewed as a synonym for selfishness. Chinese beliefs lie strongly in the Marxist perspective so his Chinese composition would need to appeal to this mindset. As Shen stated, Chinese composition was very modest and prevented him from allowing to perceive the world for himself.

Shen discusses how his use of the word “I” in English composition motivated him to change the way he viewed himself and how he views the world. In order to embrace idealism, he states that he had to let go of his objective Chinese perspective and create an “English self”; he had to abandon his Chinese political and cultural upbringing to learn English composition. He also illustrates how Chinese and English composition are different in structure. Shen concludes with how he needed to define a new, independent identity and balance it with his old Chinese identity.

I believe that my role as a cultural informant is critical for the international students at the writing center because I give them the freedom to explore their questions and grow from their struggles with English composition. I have a no-judgement policy that makes it crucial to cultivate their identity as a writer in the Anglo-American culture. I want the student-writers to have confidence in me so that they may share their struggles and I may teach them how to advance in English composition for their future.

JR 9- Reflection on My Tutoring Sessions

My sessions this week have been a mixture of many different assignments. From 30 minute sessions to hour long sessions, the challenges have been more extensive than I anticipated. I had to fight the urge to correct local issues almost every session. I also realized that it was difficult for students to talk about their ideas or to not criticize their writing as I read aloud. As expected, many students just wanted to me to proofread their assignments one day before its due. Our sessions had to focus on global issues since they didn’t follow assignment directions correctly. I had to be the bearer of bad news A LOT this week (it sucked). For many of my clients, it was their first time utilizing the writing center so they had no idea what to expect from our session. I often found that we ran out of time and we weren’t able to accomplish everything I wanted to cover in our session. But I did make sure that they left with something that would help them afterwards. Whether that was referring them to night hours, scheduling them for another appointment, or the notes we wrote in the session, I knew I wanted to keep helping them, even if I couldn’t be present.

I thoroughly enjoy brainstorming and outlining with student-writers because I get to know them personally and we develop a connection that allows us to collaborate on the assignment. In one of my sessions, I felt like a tutor and a counselor at the same time. I was asking the student-writer to talk to me about their childhood because I knew that it was evidence they could use in their paper. As I listened to their experiences, I became hyper-aware of the emotions they were feeling as they revealed personal information. I know I was demanding a lot from them but I knew that if they could express themselves verbally, they could write it. One hour in and I’m intimate with a stranger. It was strenuous but so valuable.

JR 11- “Remembering Writing, Remembering Reading”

In a case study launched by Deborah Brandt, she conducted interviews to learn about the relationship between writing and reading. Brandt highlights environmental and personal factors that affect people’s development with both activities. She illustrates that many of the respondents became avid readers because their parents habitually read to them, almost like a ritual. Though with writing, many parents of the respondents did not hold writing to the same importance as reading. Writing was not implemented as an activity. Brandt mentions that writing was negatively looked at due to the type of academic discipline of writing. Reading was seen as socially acceptable, whereas writing was more often seen as private and a form of self-expression. A lot of the emotion associated with writing was: guilt, shame, abandoned, loneliness, secrecy, etc.

Brandt analyzed the accounts of the respondents and said that reading and writing worked against each other in households rather than working cooperatively together for the benefit of learners. Writing did not play a communal role in the activities of a family as much as reading did.

I imagine that Brandt would tell me to embed empathy as second-nature because many people come from backgrounds where writing wasn’t a priority; it’s viewed more as a necessity for survival. Many people do not go beyond practicing their writing out of an academic setting and if they do, it’s mainly to express how something makes them feel. They do not want to be criticized for their writing and that is the reason why many people have trouble seeking help with their writing. A person’s writing is intimate, private, and vulnerable so they are insecure with the identity of being a writer. My role as a tutor is incredibly significant to a person’s progression with becoming comfortable and confident in their writing. I am there cultivate their identity as writer with empathy because their environmental circumstances as children have hindered their ability to positively utilize writing.

 

 

JR 10

One of my earliest memories of writing is in the first grade. A writing activity that everyone would participate in was drawing pictures of events in our life and writing a caption or story to explain the drawing. To this day, I still have these drawings and stories. The one I remember is particular was my weekend story. I made a picture book of what I did over the weekend. I recalled my weekend and embellished my story to make it more exciting. I think one of my main inspirations for doing this was my sister. She’s about 12 years older than me so by the time I was in 1st grade, she had already graduated high school. I remember that she would stay up late to write papers or she would make her own birthday cards. She is very creative.

I would show my family my drawings and stories and they loved them. But as I advanced in writing, I was very critical of my grammar mistakes. I would spell something wrong or not punctuate a sentence correctly and feel dumb. I would proofread something two or three times to make sure I didn’t have any mistakes.

I also remember my mom working on her notes and reports for the social workers of the foster children that lived in our home. As I got older, I would revise+edit her reports and eventually write them as she verbalized what she wanted to say. I would be cautious with my writing, making sure that I was being accurate. I’m not as judgmental of my work as I once was because I’ve realized that I am always growing and there is no shame in learning from your mistakes.

JR 7- Writing to Learn

An area in my life where I am most accurate is my instinctive acting technique. I believe that I have skillfully grasped what a character’s overall objective, scene objective, tactics, and obstacles. As soon as I read a script, I automatically identify these things. I do it when watching plays, movies, and tv shows. I actually can’t watch anything without doing this. I tend to take it easier on peers who haven’t been acting for long because they aren’t as in tune with this process. I try to be as objective as possible and offer constructive criticism.

How we can be accurate writing tutors is by focusing on global issues first, being in the moment as you read assignment directions and paper, and being constructive but kind when discussing their paper. Admitting you don’t know everything; communication being key. Looking at the bigger picture to make sure that everything is covered from an assignment, organizing and eliminating content, finding a balance in their work.