ENGL 505A

I've read a lot of Newkirk and other New Hampshire-ites, and other conference heavy compositionists like Lad Tobin, and, in theory, I don't think I could possibly agree with their ideas and approach more. Writing, as an expression of self (even if that self is performative in nature, which I believe that it is) is necessarily a personal act, and, for these students, this will indeed be the first experience of direct and intimate contact with a Professor and, possibly, their other students. Conferencing is the vehicle that helps establish a personal relationship that can then be used for pedagogical ends. However, as Newkirk's examples tellingly illustrate, that personal interaction is often able to go awry. Its very easy to simply talk to a student for ten minutes, about everything but their paper (and, sometimes, necessary). It's very easy to take a paper over and be over-directive, urging the student to write the paper as you would like to have it written (and, again, sometimes necessary). It's also easy to just miss a good place to help "fix" a paper. (I can remember a lot of cases where the paper was such a mess that I had a hard time even beginning to direct the conference towards something concrete...) Yes, listening helps, particularly when you have a self-motivated, bright student, like the one in the "successful conference" example. But there are going to be (I'll guarantee it) students who simply will not talk, will not self-analyze and will not participate in conferences unless you lead them by the hand. Thankfully, they're usually the minority, but that doesn't mean that we get to sit there in silence waiting to listen while they sit there in silence waiting to talk. Conferences are dynamic (this is why I like Lad Tobin so much; he really points out how individual instructors and individual students and even the conference setting WILL influence how the conferences go). They call for a reactive, proactive, passive (and on to infinity) instructor with a sixth-sense for what a particular student needs. And in the end, that's what a conference is really about; focusing on what the student needs. I like that Newkirk scoffs at the idea of paper ownership, but I still feel he's leaning on that side of the fence. I don't care about who owns the paper, unless that's exactly the issue at hand with a particular student. If a student comes to me in tears because he or she can't get past the brainstorming stage, maybe (and just maybe) the right thing to do is get a little directive, give them a hard nudge, set some guidelines, and give them what they need to get writing. Conferences are a great time to focus on individual students and their WRITING needs. There are as many paths to fulfilling those needs as there are needs, instructors and students. Yes, in most cases, there are going to be "better" ways to approach the situation, and, yes, they typically involve listening and letting the student discover their own paper through discussion and vocalizing. I'm just one of those truly pragmatic people who winces whenever I hear or read someone saying something along the lines of "Hey, this is THE way to do it, and let me tell you why," because for every closed-answer they provide, any reader can usually immediately think of exceptions. Exceptions, in this case, are students, and we can't simply statistically ignore the exceptions. (This has turned into a rant; something I do a lot of when I get a head of steam built up. Sorry.) Talk to your students. Talk to them. Listen to them. Get to know them. As people and as writers. Get to know their writing. We've got built in conference time to do all of these things, so we're lucky in that respect.