Promotional writing center video

This is a rough script for a video where a malificent professor assigns an outrageous topic. I think it would be very effective as it highlights nearly all the services the writing center provides, and would hopefully appeal to both students who want to do their best and students who doubt their abilities.


(Optimistic Student enters university whistling)- " Its a grand day to learn something new! Nothing wrong could possibly happen today!

(Optimistic Student enters classroom)- "Hello everyone! Isn't the weather phenomenal! Today may be the greatest day of the year!"

(Dubious fellow classmates respond with a tone of obvious reservation)- " I doubt it. I doubt that I have the ability to pass this class. I just know a writing assignment will be on the horizon that will be just beyond me. I doubt the professor will be in a good mood, as I saw him outside talking to the dean, who also looked doubtful.

(In storms angry professor with pipe)- "Hello, CLASS (said sarcastically)! As there are some who refuse to take this class seriously, I have decided that we need some rigorous academic work to sharpen our minds. (Reverse shot to optimistic student, who is visibly dismayed) For our next assignment you must write a twenty page paper showing the relationship between ten topics in our class that must have perfect puncuation and be introduced with a poem with an ABABAAB rhyme scheme and accompanied by a PowerPoint which will include a comprehensive resume. This paper must be in both MLA and APA format, (sinister close up on professor, who announces with relish and possibly tobacco smoke) This project will be 90% of your grade!

(Dubious student abruptly speaks)- I doubt you can smoke that pipe in here professor.

(Professor, infuriated)- NEVER MIND THAT! Don't you have enough to worry about with this intimidating writing assignment? (Cue sinister music) MUHAHAHAHA!

[top down shot of student. The room is black, possibly with grey diagonal streaks on the floor to represent trepidation. A spotlight is activated on the student] (Optimistic Student utters hopelessly)- What am I going to do?

[lights go up] (Dubious student declares) Whenever I'm in doubt I go to the writing center. They can help you become more skilled in all areas of writing!

(Optimistic Student)- Even poetry and Powerpoints that include resumes? Is there any aspect of writing they can't help with?

(Dubious Student)- I doubt it.

From here we could Segway into the optimistic students triumphant entrance into the writing center which would include confetti, saxophones, and pyrotechnics.

The Writing Center & Market(ing) Capital

Pictured: The creators of communism, the Marx.

As the proletariat w/in the Writing Center, we (the advisers) must market ourselves in a fashion which will receive the biggest capital. Therefore, we must use the rigors of a (bourgeoisie) capitalistic enterprise to achieve capital, i.e. gain and increase in service, etc. So, as the proletariat, we have reigned in ideas (the modern human's hammer and sickle) to achieve our capital. Like shooting a fish in a barrel or luring a moth to a flame, we will achieve our means to produce capital (better writers, better papers, better grades) through audio/visual techniques. In essence: Chris will be the Oppressive Teacher (signifying the bourgeoisie), Jesse will be the Student Reaching for Enlightenment but Never Achieves Enlightenment b/c of The Oppressive Teacher (the proletariat), w/ Leeroy and Mrs. McLellan being the Enlightenment (uh, yeah...) and I shall do camera work to document the Student Reaching for Enlightenment Achieving Enlightenment through the uuuh... dang, I'm losing ground here... Enlightenment People! Writers of the World Unite!

Advertising Campaign for the UM-Tupelo Writing Center

Today we talked briefly in our meeting about the importance of "face time" for advertising the Writing Center. While I think we are doing a great job of promoting the Writing Center through word of mouth, we can always do more. I have spoken to students in several classes and have appointments for one more class session. We have also conducted several writing workshops and I think those have proven useful for helping people feel comfortable with the center.

But I'm more excited about a possible Elvis "campaign" for promoting the center. At the beginning of the semester Ms. Miller, Ms. Rauch and I brainstormed different Elvis songs which could fit the WC. For example, "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog if you don't go the WC." Or, "A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Writing." We've gotten some positive feedback from our first flier "All Shook Up." I'd like us to create some really fun advertising pieces: bathroom stall fliers, sidewalk chalk ads, restaurant board ads, roving sandwich board ads. If we can get a cardboard Elvis we have have pictures of our consultants with the Elvis. He could also stand in the foyer with a sign advertising the WC.

Our biggest challenge at the Tupelo campus is that we are limited as to the places we can put advertising - cork boards, plastic displays at the front lobby, emails. How do we advertise the Writing Center effectively within these limitations?

Establishing a Rapport with Students

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=NTpBs4DL7KI

This video, Tutor Training Video Part 1, explores the different recommendations for establishing a rapport with a student who comes for a consultation. Although the video is not very exciting, it does offer some good advice for new consultants. The first speaker, Debra Hamilton, speaks about student anxiety. She makes a good point that many students feel extremely anxious, especially if they are just returning to school. Since many of our students at UM-Tupelo are returning students we need to recognize how stressful writing classes can be for them. Another tutor proposes that consultants should see themselves as allies; their role is ask productive questions which produce results.

One problem I see with this video is that Debra says she often tells students about professors' idiosyncrasies if she is familiar with the professor. I think this practice can be very dangerous, especially if those comments get back to the professors. Instead, I do think it is useful to discuss a professor's expectations if we have had a class with that person, but we should not be negative or critical of the professor.

Although this video has been previously posted, I find that the particulars - and perceived minutiae - should be further explicated to demonstrate Jason's professionalism and dedication to his writing center. His dogged persistance, in the face of such adversity, is meritorious and warrants well-deserved accolades.
One can begin the examination of this video by evaluating the contrasting hairstyles found within the work. The stark and Spartan mise-en-scène gives prominence to Jason's close-cropped hair - perhaps an indicator of previous military experience (a speculation that may well prove relevant later). He seems both approachable and affable. However, the student, given the unfortunate state of her coiffure, presents herself as hygenically negligent... or the unfortunate victim of recent electrocution. Steve McQueen vs. Joan Crawford. My money is on Steve, but I digress.
The clip also demonstrates the importance of body language. Tutors must gauge their clients in a myriad of ways. Jason is not only greeted with a rapid, dismissive handshake(0:08), he is confronted with a measured degree of soon-to-be-escalated hostility, further compounded by the uncontrollable flailing of the student. Her overt hostility, coupled with her apparent inability to modulate the volume of her voice, produces a veritable powder keg of volatility within the Writing Center. This potential for danger is fully realized at 2:14 when Jason cooly observes the camera man sprint from the room in a desperate attempt at self-preservation. Jason, well-groomed and watching the clock, is confronted with the Nagasaki of appointments. All he wants to do is help some folks with their writing - and maybe grab a quick burrito at the Student Union before his next class. After all, burritos are good.
Instead, if one consults the clip at 0:18, one can see the palpable distress that Jason feels as the student fans her hygenic unsoundness in his direction. His obvious recoil at the stench wafted from her virulent, purple sweater seems to re-ignite his earlier military training.  Any further gastronomical Tex-Mex musings are, beyond this point, out the window - or, at least,  relegated to the sidelines for the time being.
The most telling indicator of Jason's fortitude (and dedication) can be found in reviewing 1:28 and 2:10 of the clip. In each of the aforementioned instances, he subtlely moves his hand into a position to press the silent alarm under the table. Her apparent instability, presumably fueled by lead paint chip consumption and the early onset of Tourette's, prompts Jason to notify the proper authorities. While she faces the prospect of pushing a grocery cart and shaking her fist towards the sky mumbling," Syllabus...the stinking syllabus." His job is done. He did not, given his obvious training, choose to apply sufficient blunt force to her skull as to cause its collapse. Jason's steely resolve, although not fully revealed in this video, leads to the removal of a dangerous sociopath from the Writing Center. This action serves to make both the university campus and the whole of society much safer.  His restraint is legendary and we should, as tutors, raise a glass to him whenever we struggle to persevere...or just want a friggin' burrito.

The Golden Moment

The first time I saw this video, I was working at The College of Wooster in the Writing Center, sharing an office with other teacher/writing consultants who were as passionate about the messy, collaborative excitement of the writing process as I was. My friend Jenny showed me this - and I cried. Words have power, and revision metamorphoses and amplifies that power.

For me, writing is not a neat, tidy process. It involves pacing (stomping), scribbling, sketching, and talking (ranting), but when I reach that golden moment when things click, when I finally feel like I've found a steady rock to stand on in the middle of a frothy, flooded river in springtime - that's the moment that drives me to write again. One of the biggest challenges I face as a writing consultant is helping to lead students through the river rapids until they find that rock that makes the whole journey seem doable, managable, and more exciting than scary.

What does writing look like to you? How do you paint the picture of your writing process? What's your golden moment look like?

Why Write?

In the video above American writer Robert Coover discusses the question "Why Write?" During the process of discussing why he writes literature, Coover explains the very reasons why anyone should write--even if it's an essay or just a blog post. Writing is just one tool for interacting w/ the world at large and the better that tool is sharpened and/or strengthened, the better a result the writer will have in the process. Writing well and literacy have been a big issue in modern times. While one person can only do so much, it's always great to have a helping hand in the process. That is what the Writing Center is all about: helping in a much larger process.