preparation is key

Observing my writing consultant, I’ve realized that consultations are most effective when the consultant is adequately prepared.

In the first consultation I observed, the writer was an ESL student struggling with basic grammatical conventions. The grammatical errors were so frequent and basic they drew attention away from the ideas presented and would most likely significantly impact the grade of the paper. Thus, the grammatical issues needed to be addressed first. To teach this student not only how to fix the errors but why they were errors to begin with would require preparation.

If I were consulting this writer, I would have drawn up a list of the grammatical rules broken or printed out the appropriate Writer’s Web pages and made sure I could explain the basics of the rules and how to check that they were being used appropriately. In doing this, I could better teach the writer and help her avoid future mistakes.

The second consultation I observed was on a paper for an advertising class. Listening to the writer speak about the paper, I learned that citing commercials is rather confusing and that analyzing a commercial is a very particular skill. Before meeting with this writer, I would have wanted to research how to cite a commercial and look over a copy of the prompt and/or syllabus so I could better understand what is expected of a paper on advertising.

In teaching anything, preparation is critical. You have to know the material well enough to explain it clearly and relevantly to someone. With ESL students, the language barrier can make relaying information even more difficult. The most effective teaching is done when the teacher is adequately prepared, which means she throughly understands the content and the instructional strategies she will use to teach it.