Blog Post #5: Being a Writing Coach (spoiler alert: it's great!!)

Jumping into the role of a writing coach was a bit unnerving, considering how little experience I had (outside of peer/friend reviews) critiquing others' writing. Over the years, I have come to associate the revising and critiquing stage of writing more like "dotting your i's and crossing your t's" and was worried that this would end up becoming my major focus as I read through my student's submissions. I wondered if I would be able to separate the stereotypical "English teacher tendency" of finding grammatical errors from the heart of a writing coach's job, which is working alongside our tutees to hone in on and evaluate parts of their writing such as thesis, structure/organization, development, and tone/voice. These, as McAndrew and Regstad categorize as Higher Order Concerns, "are important in the tutorial because they are central to the piece of writing...improvements in these areas can dramatically change a piece" (42). This may seem a bit intimidating since our job as writing coaches is not to tear down one's work or tell them to rewrite it, but at the same time, writers will benefit in both their short and long term understanding of the elements of effective writing by having it explained/pointed out by someone like a writing coach, within their own creations. I tried to keep these ideas in mind while working with my student's papers, though it took some serious contemplation and self-awareness to really figure out how I, the "expert" (not actually lol), could provide them with meaningful, applicable feedback. 

For the first several times I opened one of my student's essays, I had to remind myself that I am not their teacher, and don't need to assess the work for a grade or some sort of final summary of my thoughts on how "good" or "to the rubric" their piece was. This reminder helped get me into the appropriate writing coach headspace, and I was able to be more present and able to step into their shoes as the writer of the specific paper/response at hand. I could more easily see areas where their writing strayed off from their established thesis/argument, where their evidence/citations weren't fully introduced or analyzed, or where their language and ideas were repetitive and/or dull. These organizational and structural components tended to be what I commented on the most since I think that many novice writers tend to struggle with keeping a clear focus/organization throughout a paper and can get so immersed in their developing ideas that they don't even recognize these inconsistencies. I still (as a fairly seasoned writer) can fall into the same pattern, which is why having someone like a writing coach, who is able to step in as a second pair of eyes, is crucial. And the beauty of a writing coach is that nearly anyone can request/seek out one! While they are especially helpful for young writers who are developing their voice and understanding of the structural elements of writing, I don't think anyone is above getting another writer/outsider's perspective on their work. 

Again, the mark of an effective writing coach is an understanding of what the job requires. You are not, as McDonald and Reigstad point out, "giving false praise... simple detecting and correcting errors... adopting the cloak of a therapist... having all the answers," and are instead supporting a writer on their journey towards finding a more effective, organized, and engaging way of writing and delivering their ideas (14). We don't have the pressure that a teacher does to give the writing a quantitative grade, nor do we have the "closeness" and deeper awareness of the class's mechanics/dynamic to influence our feedback. While it is, of course, important to build a respectful working relationship with our tutees, the writing itself is the focus of our work, and I have personally loved this intimate, immersive experience with my students' words and ideas.