Miller Writing Center
Tutoring
I began tutoring at Auburn University's Miller Writing Center (MWC) during my first semester of my junior year at Auburn University. My time tutoring developed my interest in teaching writing. Working with students allows me to see what most students do not understand about reading, writing, and analyzing. It reminds me of the importance of what we, as literary scholars, do: bringing a greater sense of understanding of what we see and hear through reading and writing. When I tutor, I put my literary critic skills into practical use to teach others how to analyze texts, ask the right questions, and appreciate why assignments like a Chaucer research paper are important. I empower these students, enabling them to piece the puzzle together by themselves. I hope to carry on and further develop this philosophy as a teacher.
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Researching and Presenting
Like tutoring opened the door to teaching, a course in Writing Center Theory and Practice (Fall 2012) opened the door to writing center scholarship. I used my research skills to construct a history of the MWC and wrote a paper that used writing center scholarship to argue that it is important for faculty and tutors to know the history of their local writing center. I had the opportunity to present a version of this paper at the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing (NCPTW) in November of 2013. In doing this work, I learned how the skills I honed in literature classes were applicable to different kinds of studies and discovered my interest in Rhetoric and Composition.
Click here to see my Writing Center Theory and Practice portfolio. |
Hiring
Since my first semester on staff, I have been involved in the hiring process once. Each member of the hiring committee evaluates about five applications, which includes a statement of purpose, a writing sample, an explanation of his or her steps when writing the sample, and GPA. After scoring each application, the committee meets to discuss which applicants we would like to interview. Our writing center director and committee members interview the applicants, and then the committee meets for the final time to discuss which applicants to hire. While participating in the hiring staff, I learned more about important qualities of a good worker and tutor.