Doc Jen Tutor Reflections

Mental Health Awareness in the Writing Center

by Sarah Emmerson

“If you do not tell the truth about yourself, you cannot tell it about other people”

 -Virginia Woolf

When I started my first semester at CLC, I was both excited and terrified of what it would be like. Before attending CLC, I visited the college to take a tour and see if it was the best fit.  I fell in love with the college the moment I stepped in it; it was like eating a food you’re skeptical about but then it ends up being your favorite.  However, seeing it and living it were two different experiences.

When I started classes, everything changed because it was harder than I expected with the work load and taking classes that weren’t right for me. I jumped in too quickly with difficult classes such as marketing and a higher-level math. Plus, my struggle with depression and anxiety that had started in middle school followed me into my college education, and I ended up dropping out after my first semester.

A year and a half later I returned, and I had a new perspective on what I wanted as far as goals for college. One of them was getting help on what I struggled with the most, which was geometry. I didn’t know much about the tutoring center until I visited the math center for my geometry class. Continue reading “Mental Health Awareness in the Writing Center” →

Doc Jen Faculty Info, Writer Info, Writing Center News

CLC Writing Center Supports Online Students

By Brigette Dumblauskas, Lead Online Tutor

In the spring of 2015, the Writing Center collaborated with a few of our wonderful English faculty members to try something new for CLC: offering online writing support. With a growing selection of online course options and students enrolling from places near and far, it seemed we owed it to online students to make writing tutoring available to them, especially since coming in to one of the physical writing centers was simply not feasible for many of them. (Travel from Haiti to Grayslake for a one hour tutoring session? Not happening.)

We’ve come a long way since that first semester, expanding from offering online tutoring in just three course sections to welcoming students enrolled in any CLC online course to work with a writing tutor online. When people who are used to face-to-face tutoring in the physical writing center hear that I tutor online, they sometimes grimace a bit and ask, “How does that work?” The answer is it works pretty well, partly because the online environment offers a lot of flexibility, not only in terms of time and location, but also in mode of interaction. Continue reading “CLC Writing Center Supports Online Students” →

Doc Jen Faculty Info, Peer Writing Tutor Program, Writer Info, Writing Center News

This Job Could Change Your Life

I don’t think there is a quantifiable answer for how much I’ve gained by becoming a peer tutor.  -Jessica Cole

To say I am anything less than a completely different person from who I was 16 weeks ago would be a lie . . . this has made me closer to who I want to be in life. It introduced me to so many different types of people that I’d never met. It’s shown me no story is less than another and to not judge.   -Anna Brunette

An Opportunity You Don’t Want to Miss

The CLC Writing Center hires peer tutors on an annual basis.  Applications are made available in May and interviews are conducted in June to choose the 15-16 students who will take part in the Peer Writing Tutor Program the next academic year.  We reach out to instructors, asking them to recommend students in their classes that they think would make good tutors, but we also market this opportunity directly to interested student.

If you will be continuing your studies at CLC in 2018-2019* and have maintained at least a B grade point average, we encourage you to apply for a tutoring position with us.  No matter what your major, working as a writing tutor will benefit you in a number of ways.

  • Many studies have shown that tutoring someone else increases one’s own awareness and understanding of a subject.
  • Tutoring gives you valuable work and academic experience
  • Scholarship and admission committees and potential employers take this tutoring experience very seriously.

The most exciting part of becoming a tutor is the experience of working with others—student writers, other tutors, and the writing center staff.  You’ll be joining a vibrant, teaching and learning community that will challenge you to grow both academically and professionally.

*You must be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours each semester. Continue reading “This Job Could Change Your Life” →

Doc Jen Writing Center News

Night Against Procrastination – Spring 2018

On Wednesday, April 25, 2018, from 5:30-10:00 pm, the CLC Writing Center sponsored a Night against Procrastination—an evening devoted to offering space and support for students working on final writing projects.  This is the 5thsemester that the CLC Writing Center has sponsored this event, and we have already set the dates for Fall 2018 and Spring 2019.

For the first time, our Night Against Procrastination had a theme—the Netflix show, Stranger Things.  Two of our peer tutors, Jess Cole and Anna Brunette, came up with the idea on the way home from the Midwest Writing Centers Association (MWCA) conference in Omaha in early March.  Jess, who has helped coordinate our write-ins since Spring 2017, attended a conference session focused specifically on putting on this type of event and came out with a notebook full of ideas including the need for a theme.  This led to a 2-hour brainstorming session in the car. Continue reading “Night Against Procrastination – Spring 2018” →

Doc Jen Writer Info, Writing Center News

April in the Lakeshore Tutoring Center

DHY Sign 2It’s become a rite of passage each April: final year students in CLC’s dental hygiene program descend on the Lakeshore Tutoring Center, drafts of resumes and cover letters in hand. Students know that, in a competitive job market, well-crafted written submissions to prospective employers can make the difference between acceptance and rejection. Resumes and cover letters that sparkle reflect both the quality of instruction in the college’s dental hygiene program and the caliber of our graduates. Program faculty endorse tutoring services at Lakeshore and actively encourage students to work with tutors on all of their major writing assignments. Lakeshore staff are delighted and honored to be part of that collaboration.

Brent and Student
Tania Montes, a first-year student in CLC’s dental hygiene program, reviews her essay on nutritional counseling with writing tutor Brent Sekularac.
Doc Jen Writing Center News

Midwest Writing Centers Association (MWCA) Conference – March 2018

Twelve staff members of the CLC Writing Center, including Faculty Coordinator, Jenny Staben, attended the Midwest Writing Centers Association (MWCA) conference in Omaha, Nebraska from March 1 – March 3, 2018.  The theme of the conference was Social Justice in the Writing Center—Opening the Center for All.  In addition to two days of sessions, the conference included a keynote address by Dr. Shirin Vossoughi, Assistant Professor of Learning Sciences at Northwestern University entitled, “Writing as a Social Act: Epistemic Heterogeneity, Learning, and Educational Dignity.”

Continue reading “Midwest Writing Centers Association (MWCA) Conference – March 2018” →

Doc Jen Faculty Info, Writer Info

Writing Center Assists in Creating Better Writers, Showcases Diversity

Kyle Dalton - Last Day of English 260
Kyle Dalton – Last Day of English 260

This article was written for the March 13, 2017 edition of CLC’s campus newspaper, The Chronicle, by Kyle Dalton, staff writer and peer writing tutor.  Though written almost a year ago, it gives a good overview of our mission and services.

With the spring semester in full swing at CLC, the tutoring center is a-buzz with students seeking help. For anyone having trouble with those tricky personal narratives, research papers, or transfer applications, look no further; The Writing Center is here to help!

No matter whether you’re struggling getting started or just want someone there next to you to help finalize the last details, tutors are available to help guide you in your writing process. Students have a large range of options on where and when they can go if they want some help.  Any hoping to revise, rework, and get some one-on-one time with a tutor are in luck. The CLC Writing Center offers writers one-on-one assistance at the Lakeshore, Southlake, and Grayslake campuses

Continue reading “Writing Center Assists in Creating Better Writers, Showcases Diversity” →

Doc Jen Writing Center News

Tutor Kickoff – Fall 2017

To kick off the Fall 2017 semester, writing center tutors gathered for a morning of breakfast treats and conversation.  New tutors were mixed with experienced tutors for an hour-long activity called “Tutor Talk Conversation Cafe.”  In small groups, tutors discussed questions pulled from an envelope:  questions directed at returning tutors, questions that focused on new tutors who will start at the writing center next week, and questions that everyone in the group could answer.  The main aim of this activity was to give new tutors a preview of the work they will be doing in the writing center.  However, other benefits included creating connections between new and returning staff and everyone learning from each other’s responses.

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Doc Jen Tutor Philosophies

All I Really Need to Know (about teaching) I Learned in the Writing Center

jenny-amanda(with apologies to Robert Fulghum)

In English 260 (Intro to Writing Center Theory and Practice), new tutors write a tutor philosophy at the end of the semester, expressing their ideas about tutoring and writing centers in any format they choose. Tutors have created everything from poems to skits to songs/raps to paintings, as well as a range of texts.  A few years ago, I decided it was time for me to tackle this task along with my tutors and here’s the latest version of my “tutor philosophy.”

Lesson #1. Writers need to be active participants in their own learning

My writing center work has taught me that Stephen North didn’t get the quote quite right when he said, “our job is to produce better writers, not better writing.”  The grammatical problem with this sentence is that the subject doing the “producing” is still the tutor and/or the writing center.  For a tutoring session to work and learning to happen, both tutor and writer have to be involved. In order to improve, a writer has to write and think and write some more.  A tutor can be involved in this process, but they cannot be the sole actor in it.  We all have had sessions like this—where the student pushes the paper across the table at us or demands, “Tell me what to write,” and the fundamental problem with those moments is that if one gives in, nothing changes.

Continue reading “All I Really Need to Know (about teaching) I Learned in the Writing Center” →