Southern California Writing Centers Association Tutor Conference
13 Annual
Antelope Valley College
Biola University
California Lutheran University
California State Univeristy, Channel Islands
California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Long Beach
California State University, San Bernardino
California State University, San Marcos
Claremont McKenna College
Concordia University Irvine
Crafton Hills College
Harvey Mudd College
Long Beach City College
Marymount California University
MiraCosta College
Moorpark College
Mount San Antonio College
Nevada State College
Oxnard College
Oxnard Community College
Pitzer College
Point Loma Nazarene University
Pomona College
Riverside City College
San Diego State University
Scripps College
Southern Utah University
Southwestern College
University of California, Irvine
University of California, San Diego
Woodbury University
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Special Thanks to:
February 25th | MiraCosta College | Oceanside, CA
One Tutor, Many Hats
Navigating Roles in the
Writing Center
*Please park in lot OC-3C, OC-3A, or OC-3B, circled in red.
*Please park in unmarked psaces. Permit not required.
*Do not park in spaces marked, “Staff.”
*Dining Hall is located in Building 3400.
2017 SoCal WCA Tutor
Conference
Schedule of Events
9:00 AM - 9:50 AM
*Atzlan A & B are located in Building 3400.
*Buildings T300 and 3500 will host all conference session
and panels.
Dining Hall-3400
10:00 AM - 10:50 AM Session 1
Panel:
Room:
11:00 AM - 11:50 AM Session 2
Panel:
Room:
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Lunch
1:10 PM - 2:00 PM
2:10 PM - 3:00 PM
3:10 PM - 4:00 PM
1
Registration, coffee & tea
service, and light refreshments
Dining Hall-3400
Session 3
Panel:
Room:
Session 4
Panel:
Room:
Community Hour
Dining Hall-3400
2
Session 1
10:00 - 10:50 AM
Adapting to Confusion: An Essential Part of Learning and the
Writing Process [Location: 3501]
Randall Searcy
Oxnard Community College
Educational pedagogy and research will be presented indicating that when
we seek to learn new concepts or approaches, and we deliberately move
away from what we know toward what we know we do not know, confusion
is common, normal, and essential (Vygotsky, 1978; D’Mello & Graesser,
2014). A discussion will then follow about how best to inculcate awareness
and understanding that confusion exists in the “Zone of Proximal (Writing)
Development” in our tutor-tutee relationships so that we might become more
effective learners, writers, and writing tutors.
Mentoring vs. Being the Peer [Location: 3504]
Kayla Arbini, Remington Rimple, Elizabeth Jaffari, Michael Kenney
California State University, San Marcos
As a tutor, there is a fine line between being a mentor and being a peer to a
tutee. Therefore, during sessions with a tutee, it is important to navigate what
can be construed as appropriate or misleading praise/encouragement.
Emotionally Intelligent Tutoring [Location: 3507]
Alex Roman, Troy Shibukawa, Robert Brown, Ian Heisler
California State University, Fullerton
This presentation will explore the role and importance of empathy and
emotional intelligence in tutoring while also maintaining professionalism and
objective distance. The discussion will open a space for tutors to share their
own experiences and insights as we brainstorm ways we might tutor with
stronger emotional intelligence.
The ESL Tutoring Toolkit: How to Meet Our Writers Where
They Are [Location: 3508]
Stephanie Caranica, Jasmine Betka, Kelsey Stuart, Kim Lewis
Moorpark College
The goal for our session is to show that the first step to walking with ESL
students in their writing journey is to meet them where they are. We will
introduce a practical toolkit that tutors can use to provide writing skills support,
as well as emotional support, to ESL writers.
Consultants Without Borders: Learning to Adapt to Clients
from Unfamiliar Backgrounds [Location: 3509]
Jordan Koppany, Tori Knuppe, Carly Wolfe
Biola University
This panel will discuss ways to adapt in tutoring situations overshadowed by
unfamiliar cultural backgrounds. Given the expansiveness of “culture” as a
concept, the discussion will focus on challenges associated with dissimilar
linguistic, generational, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
An Inquiry into Intersectional Identities of Writing Tutors
[Location: 3510]
Divya Bambawale, Hunter Sidel, Jordan Jenkins
Pitzer College
Just as writers negotiate multiple identities in their work, tutors, too, bring
intersectional identities into the Writing Center. Through carefully crafted
reflective activities, this workshop will prompt participants to consider how an
awareness of any identity they feel is central to them can be used to become
an even stronger tutor, which is important because self-awareness about
our own identities is a crucial first step to creating a more inclusive space for
others.
Nothing is impossible, the word
itself says I’M POSSIBLE.
- Audrey Hepburn
More sessions on the next page….
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From Scientists to Writing Fellows: Techniques for
Enhancing Science Writing Comprehension [Location: 3511]
Samantha Kerr, Rylie Miller, Staci Thompson
Southern Utah University
This workshop will give a unique perspective on mentoring students in
science writing from Fellows who are scientists first and writers second.
Individuals attending the presentation will conduct a simple experiment using
inebriation googles and then outline the fundamental sections of a lab report.
From Tutor to Mentor: Applying Writing Center Strategies as
a Summer Camp Counselor [Location: 3608]
Ariana Nelson
California Lutheran University
How do you translate your traditional writing center skills when working
with non-traditional clients? This session explores how your Writing Center
strategies can be an asset even when working with young children and other
non-traditional clients.
Selling the Center: Tutor as Salesperson [Location: T307]
Edward Ferrari, Monica Aguilar, Melody Robinson, Jason Cannon
Crafton Hills College
Holly Ryan and Danielle Kane’s recent paper suggests tutors can best
fulfill their role of salesperson by integrating a form of demonstration into
classroom visits (“Evaluating the Effectiveness of Writing Center Classroom
Visits: An Evidence-Based Approach.” The Writing Center Journal, vol. 34,
no. 2, 2015, pp. 145–172). This session will therefore explore what makes for
an effective demonstration, with the practical aim of creating a classroom visit
outline tailored to participants’ institutions.
If I waited for perfection I would
never write a word.
- Margaret Atwood
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Our Writing Studio Sorting Hat: How Knowing Your Hogwarts
House Might Make You a Better Writing Consultant [Location:
T306]
Tyler Klatt, Justin Solis, Zoe Litzenberg
Concordia University Irvine
When it comes to your tutoring communication style, are you an assertive
Slytherin, a gregarious Gryffindor, a humble Hufflepuff, or a rigorous
Ravenclaw? After presenting research from one staff’s experience with
communication style analysis, this session “sorts” participants into Hogwarts
Houses based on their communications styles and challenges them to
consider how their communication strengths and weaknesses could be
impacting their writing center consultations.
Notes:
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Session 2
11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Lost in Translation: The Tutor as Intermediary Between
Student and Instructor [Location: 3501]
Scott Davidson, Austin Campbell, Nick Viste, James Brady
Riverside City College
This presentation will explore and define the role of tutor as translator, building
on Leigh Ryan’s and Lisa Zimmerelli’s work, showing how each tutoring session
requires the tutor to “translate” instructor verbiage for the student, ensuring
the student understands the instructor’s directions and requirements. Then,
participants will be asked to translate sample assignments during mock tutoring
sessions.
Tutor’s Hat Rack: Special Hats for Special Cases [Location:
3504]
Donna Phillips, Ana-Lia Marinelli
Mount San Antonio College
This session will cover strategies for working with nonnative English speakers
(NNES) using the Growth Mindset theory by Carol S. Dweck, Ph. D. These
techniques will provide tutors with tools for their sessions with NNES students
to assist with the word-processing gap in the students’ writing assignments.
Playing The Eiron: Modeling Unfamiliarity with a Text for the
Benefit of the Tutee [Location: 3507]
Cynthia Flores, Maile Blume, Mariah Mastrodimas,
Bandana (Bonnie) Singh
Scripps College
The purpose of this session is to generate small group discussions specifically
about the effectiveness of incorporating demonstrations into classroom visits.
It is hoped that this discussion will prompt participants who have little or no
experience with demonstrations to explore them, and encourage participants
who do, to share their knowledge and analyses with others. The participants
will then be asked — in light of these small group discussions — to create an
outline for a classroom visit tailored to participants’ institutions.
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Translanguaging: New Tutor Roles in ESL [Location: 3508]
Joshua Morse
Point Loma Nazarene University
Translanguaging focuses on the use of a multilingual student’s first language
as a supplement to the acquisition of their second language through the use
of comparative analysis and other approaches. This session will explore
translanguaging theory, the how-to’s of translanguaging and the methods in
practice (with demonstration), and the effects of translingual tutoring.
Grab a Sombrero, Keffiyeh, Rastacap, or Beret: Put on a
Cultural Hat and Toss the Barriers Away [Location: 3509]
Ayleen Perry, Saskia Koch, Jayde Bertoch
Southern Utah University
At any given moment, a student from China, Mexico, Canada, or France could
walk through the doors of your Writing Center, seeking guidance from a tutor.
It can become difficult to interact with ESL students, but in this workshop, we
will give you the tools to try on a sombrero, keffiyeh, rastacap, or beret-- to
better understand the student’s culture and toss the barriers away.
To Hat or Not to Hat: Deconstructing Identity in the Writing
Center [Location: 3510]
Esther Gutierrez, Ambar Hurtado, Fabian Torres, Sabehha Asad
California State University, San Bernardino
In this session, we aim to deconstruct identities in the writing center, especially
categorizations that are dependent on stereotypes, by considering tutor
and tutee identities as being multifaceted and co-constructed. We examine
the drawbacks and consequences of categorizing student “types” before a
session begins by conducting and analyzing mock-tutorials with the audience.
I’ve learned that people will forget
what you said, people will forget what
you did, but people will never forget
how you made them feel.
- Maya Angelou
More sessions on the next page….
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Multiliteracy Tutoring: What is It and How Does It Work?
[Location: 3511]
Rafael Deligio, Vanessa Rodgers, Tiona Sykes, Jennifer Kelley
California State Univeristy, Channel Islands
This panel will discuss how our center at CSU Channel Islands transitioned
into a writing and multiliteracy center, how multiliteracy tutors support creative
writing, and how the communication fellows program has introduced oral and
visual communication strategies to classes in various disciplines. In our activity,
attendees will learn how to give oral feedback on pitches for their own center.
Strategies for Tutoring Disabled Students [Location: T306]
Lalena Janke, Vilma Moore, Angela Garcia-Sermeño
Southwestern College
What challenges and obstacles can accompany tutoring students with
disabilities, and what role should tutors take in these situations? Join us in
discussing questions and concerns while we propose potential solutions to
helping these students.
You Can’t Build A Writing Center at the Drop of a Hat:
Proactively Optimizing Your Writing Center Space
[Location: T307]
Kaeli Madsen, Kallin Raymond, A.J. Edwards
Southern Utah University
Writing Centers may not have total control over the conditions of their physical
locations, but if tutors get involved with the design and layout of their center,
they can design a space that significantly impacts tutor and student morale. In
this session, we guide participants in a simulated activity in which they arrange
common writing center furnishings to design their ideal space; a well designed
center creates enthusiastic tutors, pleased faculty, and happy patrons.
The art of writing is the art of
discovering what you believe.
- Gustave Flaubert
Session 3
1:10 PM - 2:00 PM
Hooked on a Feeling: Utilizing Verbal and Nonverbal
Emotional Cues for a Successful Session [Location: 3501]
Colin Wolters, Chelsea Smith
Long Beach City College
Decoding a student’s feelings during a tutoring session can be tricky, but it
can also be an extremely valuable tool to engage and motivate students. Our
presentation, based on research of concrete emotional cues, will offer means
by which tutors can read these cues and adaptively apply directive and nondirective techniques for a more effective session.
Teaching for Transfer: How Tutors Can Facilitate the Process
of Knowledge Transfer in the Lives of Students
[Location: 3504]
Paxton Dolan, Natalie Rosen
Point Loma Nazarene University
This session will explore the methods that can be used to make transfer an
active process in students lives as well as examine some of the problems
that currently prevent this. Tutors will engage in discussion of what can be
done to explicitly teach for transfer in the writing center.
Addressing Bias and Ethnocentrism in Academic Writing
[Location: 3507]
Victoria Carillo, Marisa Meno
San Diego State University
Have you ever encountered bias, inappropriate language, or ethnocentrism
in academic writing? Come to our session to learn how to address them
in tutoring sessions and how we can foster objective analysis and critical
thinking in students.
More sessions on the next page....
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The Tutor as a Cultural Ambassador [Location: 3508]
Embedded Tutoring: A Quick Change Art [Location: 3511]
University of California, Irvine
Tutors are cultural ambassadors who nurture an environment deeply aware
of contextual differences and support a mutual exchange of knowledge with
tutees. Our goal is to empower non-native English speakers, especially
international students, to take ownership of their diverse cultural identities as
they encounter new perspectives and ultimately, to communicate their voices in
writing more confidently.
Antelope Valley College
This session will discuss the “many hats” that represent the roles tutors fill
in the classroom. We will focus on embedded tutoring and how the tutor can
use a variety of strategies to meet the needs of many students quickly and
effectively.
Emily La, Ziwen Chen, Peng Li Su, Melisa Lu
Wearing a Cultural Informant Hat and Diversifying with a HSI
Writing Center [Location: 3509]
Cynthia Castillo, Claudia Moreno
California Lutheran University
In our presentation, we would like to introduce the mutual benefits of a Hispanic
Serving Institution (HSI) having a writing center that is conscious of ways to
best serve the Hispanic population and their writing. We will discuss what a
writing center could do for a Hispanic student to help them acknowledge their
individual strengths and what a writing center can change or develop in order to
better meet Hispanic students’ needs.
A Patchwork Cap: How Tutor Roles Complicate and Enrich
Writing Tutoring [Location: 3510]
Amber Escobar, Kareem Salem
Marymount California University
At Marymount California University, writing tutors also tutor multiple other
subjects and come from a variety of majors. This presentation will discuss how
MCU tutors shift between tutor personas and how those multiple roles both
complicate and enrich the writing tutoring experience.
You are the storyteller of your
own life, and you can create your
own legend, or not.
- Isabelle Allende
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Charles Bordy, Lizzie Jacobs, Karina Rowe
Writing Center Tutors as Good Will Ambassadors [Location:
T306]
Erik Danryd, Julissa Padilla, Patricia Hajjar, Annie Hetrick
Woodbury University
By employing a variety of promotional strategies, Woodbury University Writing
Center tutors were able to increase their student usage by 34%. Participants
will explore how they as tutors can function as ambassadors for their writing
centers through classroom presentations and carnival-esque activities that
engage students using props to increase their profile on campus.
Beyond Academic Writing: Organizing Creative and Personal
Essay Workshops [Location: T307]
Kanako Shimizu, Jen Vaccaro, Nedim Filipovic
Claremont McKenna College
We will briefly present our model for organizing creative and personal essay
workshops on our campus and in our local community before discussing
necessary skills and best practices: asking thought-provoking questions;
actively listening to personal stories; managing time when working with
multiple students; and, above all, empowering writers. Following our
presentation, we will break into small teams to design either a creative or a
personal essay workshop for 10-15 minutes before having one or two teams
execute their plans with the rest of the participants for group feedback.
Notes:
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Session 4
2:10 PM - 3:00 PM
Hat Trick: Writing Studios and Sour Patch Kids [Location: 3501]
Rebekah Tobler, Elsa Togersen, Josh Barton
Southern Utah University
Writing studios can help motivate students to work through the writing process.
In this session, we share ways that tutors can pass the tutoring hat to student
writers as they participate in tutor-led writing studios that help students
understand the need for a friend, time, and Sour Patch Kids—in other words
collaboration, revision, and some kind of sweetening agent.
Tutors as Learning Resource Liasons: Assuming Dynamic
Roles in the Writing and Tutoring Center [Location: 3504]
Caren Scott, Jaime Guerrero, Andres Cortez
Oxnard College
One of the most important and dynamic roles that a tutor fills in their writing or
tutoring center is that of a Learning Resource Tutor: a tutor who is a source of
information that assists students in the process of gaining knowledge or skills.
This session will explore how tutors who act as learning resources provide
students with a three-tiered approach to tutoring: first, these tutors familiarize
students with their campus community; second, they serve as examples
of student success for their pupils to emulate; and finally, they provide
professional writing assistance so that students are prepared to write in an
academic setting.
Preparing for Emotion: When Thoughts Turn to Sniffles
[Location: 3507]
Kayla Reed, Melissa Rudd
California Lutheran University
As writing tutors with backgrounds in psychology, the presenters would like
to examine the presence of emotion in the writing center. The purpose of this
session is to provide tutors with tools to be better prepared for emotions that
may arise for clients during writing consultations.
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One Tutor, Many Languages: Tutoring with NNS Students
[Location: 3508]
Julie Kim, Kathryn Reuter
California State University, Long Beach
As home to a growing number ELL students, writing center tutors in Southern
California are faced with the task of revisiting and reshaping tutorial sessions
with nonnative English students. By better understanding not only the lexical
needs but also the cultural knowledge ELL writers possess, writing center
tutors can achieve powerful and enriching collaborative sessions.
UC San Diego Writing + Critical Expression Hub: A Focus on
Comprehension Checks [Location: 3509]
Jody Tai, Wilson Tan, Beverly Yu, Edie Zhang, Christopher Yin,
Caitlin Hung
University of California, San Diego
Comprehension check questions, such as “Does this make sense?” may
seem innocuous and inspired by a genuine intention to assess a student’s
learning during a session. However, these types of questions may not be
appropriate, as their use relies on cultural conventions that may lead to
students agreeing with the peer mentor simply because of their position of
authority and not necessarily true clarity. Through facilitating group discussion
of these potential consequences, this workshop will define and examine any
insecurities, biases, and power disparities that may arise during sessions with
non-native English speakers.
Tutee-Centered Sessions: Writing Tutors’ Roles as PersonCentered Therapists [Location: 3510]
Paula Ramirez, Tucker St. John, Larry Piatt
Nevada State College
In every role tutors adopt, they utilize Rogerian tenets and techniques found
in Person-Centered therapy to facilitate a tutee-centered session, designed
to address the specialized needs of tutees. By roleplaying an assortment
of sessions, tutors will practice implementing the Person-Centered
therapist/tutor techniques to navigate diverse tutees and session dynamics
encountered in writing centers.
More sessions on the next page….
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Finding Your Inner Scientific Writing Hat [Location: 3511]
Kathleen Kohl, Marisa Kager, Sakshi Shah, Sophie Ehlen
Harvey Mudd College
Would you feel overwhelmed if someone asked you to tutor a scientific paper?
Harvey Mudd College’s Writing Center will help you find your Scientific Writing
Hat by using thesis-driven writing principles as a lens for tutoring scientific and
technical writing.
Anxious and Overwhelmed: Tutoring with Mental/Invisible
Illnesses [Location: T306]
Chenglin Lee, Catherine Ciavarella, Andrea Briseno
California State University, Fullerton
In our discussion, we will explore practical methods and techniques on how to
maintain professionalism while handling stressors and potential triggers in the
tutorial, as well as how to incorporate resources from the school and collaborate
with other organizations. We will use prompting and targeted questions to start
an important dialogue about the usage of content warnings in the appointment
making process, as well as how tutors can help students process emotions while
still maintaining a different role from that of a therapist.
Navigating Tutor Roles in Campus Discourse [Location: T307]
Pieter Hoekstra, Andrea Green, Alexandra Sanchez, Emma Fredgant,
Samantha Resnick
Pomona College
We will examine how writing tutors play a role in shaping campus dialogue.
Attendees will be asked to reflect on their own campuses’ important issues and
how they can adapt their roles in the service of the broader college community.
Notes:
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Community Hour
3:10 PM - 4:00 PM
[Location: Dining Hall-3400]
Learn about, interact with, and take fresh ideas and inspiration from staff at
writing centers across our region. We invite you to participate in the wrap-up
session of our conference, which we’re calling the “Community Hour.” Writing
Centers will present posters sharing their center’s philosophy, services, space,
tutors, and/or some other defining feature so that others can learn about what
they do and ask questions.
We will also give out our first-ever (!) SoCal Writing Center Association t-shirts,
featuring our handsome new logo, to all conference presenters during this
time, and will have these shirts for sale, as well.
Notes:
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You’ve never lived this day
before. And you never will again.
Make the most of it!
- Anonymous
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