Teacher Resources: Things That Work

KNOWING YOUR STUDENTS / USING OFFICE HOURS
by Debra Roy

The best advice that I can offer about assisting weaker students is to obtain information and to practice early intervention--that is, for students who want the assistance. Like all "things that really work," this involves work. 

Student records can be accessed through the Rutgers computer system by Writing Program personnel; Grade Information Sheets are on file in Murray 108 (and on the campus on which the course was taught) for all students who have failed Writing Program classes, including the instructor's report on the student's problems and progress. Examining such information can help you to determine whether a student is repeating a pattern that led to failure in an earlier semester and to assess the pattern's implications.

Of course, you should also ask the student to help you to better understand his/her situation. If at all possible, get weaker students into your office! Such students rarely take the initiative to drop by during office hours, but they're usually willing to come when asked–indeed, many hope that their difficulties will be noticed and addressed.

I customarily schedule two conferences with each student whose second essay is clearly below the passing level (or when they've turned in little or no work at all). It's important during the first meeting to encourage a student to share his/her understanding of the situation with you–which often includes external factors such as family and employment commitments. As you might imagine, students are eager to account for failing work and to assuage fears that they're "not smart" or are too "bad at English" to ever succeed in the course. Certainly, you can reassure them that they're acquiring "learnable" skills appropriate for their level, and that some students need additional assistance or more than one semester to gain proficiency in these skills. At times, even though a student cites problems that aren't directly related to writing, you may be able to give them badly needed assistance–for example, a medical or family situation may warrant referring the student to a dean/academic advisor or counselor. Campus directors can help you to locate the appropriate person. 

A student's problems and anxieties are usually typical enough of first-year college life to find relief, to some extent, through talking. This may position us, somewhat uncomfortably, as therapists–but listening to students goes with the territory. Given the prominence of large lecture courses in first-year students' schedules, your students may view you as one of very few approachable adults at Rutgers. I discovered that when I cut off students impatiently during personal narratives so as to discuss their writing, they interpreted me as caring little about them as people, and their resentment adversely affected their work. Offering guarded but sympathetic responses (and an occasional tissue) doesn't mean getting involved unduly in your students' personal lives–and it certainly doesn't mean letting them off the hook. Such sessions usually end with the student agreeing that s/he will work harder in the course, and a second visit is contingent upon the student bringing in a draft of his/her current essay.

Of course, some students will launch directly into a discussion of their papers. You may have a student who will, however nicely, explain her failing marks as your deficiency rather than hers. Such students imply or maintain an equality between their judgment and yours, or marshal other authorities (parents, teachers, tutors, friends) to reinforce their position that they are writing passing-level essays. The best approach, in my experience, is to share our grading criteria (from the course description) with them. While some of the language will seem "vague," students are comforted by the fact that shared criteria exist among all sections of the same course (the belief that a friend taking another section has an "easier" teacher than you is widespread). You'll need to point out, however, that the criteria is not an "objective" rulebook that is simply "applied" to each paper–or else accurate grading software would truly replace us. You may also want to discuss their most recent paper in light of each guideline for a "C" essay. It's particularly useful to have on hand a paragraph or two from a C-level essay (ask the 101 coordinator for samples if you don't have any) that, in contrast to the student's paper, clearly demonstrates a significant moment of textual engagement and/or connection between two texts. It's at this point of comparison that weaker students frequently articulate their dawning understanding that we're encouraging them to become engrossed in some problem or issue raised by their readings.

Once such "blockages" have been loosened, the work itself can be tackled more productively. Rather than repeat written comments, I've found it most helpful to ask students to read a working draft aloud, pausing when they would like to clarify something or when I want clarification. (Note: Asking students to read portions of drafts aloud in peer-review sessions is also quite useful!) This tends to result in students actually hearing what they've written and readily identifying weaknesses. In fact, they're usually too hard on themselves at this point, so you'll want to set them to work revising a crucial moment on paper and praise them for their improvement. 

Certainly the work that you do with your weaker students in your office is not intended to substitute for missed classes, replace tutoring, or serve as a quick fix for a range of problems that are not going away in one semester. But individual conferencing can significantly move weaker students toward realizing that when they write expository essays, they're communicating to another human being–someone who's truly interested in what they have to say when a genuine effort is being made.