So far, I’ve only had a few meetings with Dr. Anderson. We haven’t had much to discuss so far since the writing assignments are just starting to come up in the semester. Right now, I make my appearance in class as a reminder for students that I am there as a resource for them. Today, Dr. Anderson and I had a meeting to talk about doing joint office hours so that we could offer writing support and content support at the same time. Depending on how busy our joint office hour is, we may take the opportunity instead to talk more about topics surrounding the class, or possible activities I could do as a writing fellow.
For future fellows, I believe my best advice is not to be super nervous about meeting with your faculty partner. Most professors are happy to have you as a resource, and you can take the program however you see fit. I would also recommend embracing hearing your faculty partner’s experiences as a professor. They can give you an insight into what it is like to be an educator, especially if you are interested in being an educator yourself. I also think it has been interesting to be a writing fellow for a course that is outside of my primary education. If it isn’t possible to be a writing fellow in a course related to your major, try being a writing fellow for a different style of course! It can also allow you to develop faculty connections in other parts of the university.
I have met with Dr. McCray a few times so far! We mostly email back and forth. I also have a class with her so we will often chat right after class. I had a great experience with Dr. McCray so far. She is so nice and offers lots of suggestions based on experiences with her past writing fellows. We have met to discuss how to explain my role to students, what assignments I should help with, ways to encourage students to meet, and what my role in the classroom would be. My advice to new fellows would be to not overthink it at first. I was a little nervous at first because it was a different dynamic than normal. It very much helped that I have had multiple classes with Dr. McCray and have gotten to know her. I would also say don’t be afraid to ask your faculty mentor questions. They have lots of information and knowledge that they can share. The writing fellows program is a great opportunity to allow students to develop a relationship with a professor and learn from them. Overall, all of my experiences with my faculty mentor have been great! It has been very casual and encouraging. Dr. McCray is very nice and I am very lucky to be able to work with her!
I have had a few one-on-one meeting with Prof. Tuttle, but mainly our communication is through updates over email. Our first meeting was to actually put a face to a name and to come to a consensus on what my role in the class was going to be. I go to every Monday lecture for the class, as I am unable to attend on Thursdays. I mainly do this so I can get an idea of what Prof. Tuttle is expecting them to take from class and put into their writing, seeing how the students are grasping the concepts that they have to write about, and so I have some context for the material when I read their work. After I had my first meeting with a student, I put it in my notes on my tutoring log, and she emailed me expressing gratitude for being there to help. She has been vey easy to communicate with and I am happy that I could be an addition to her class.
For Future fellows, I would suggest reaching out to your faculty partner early, so they can work you into their syllabus ASAP. I would also recommend going in to your first meeting with them knowing what your purpose is as a fellow, as in my experience, that decision was left more up to me. If they are fellowing for a class they’ve never taken or something that has nothing to do with their major, I would encourage them to learn a lot from the experience, as it has been very fun for me, personally, to learn about these new topics and exercise the more humanities-focused side of my brain.
3 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 7”
So far, I’ve only had a few meetings with Dr. Anderson. We haven’t had much to discuss so far since the writing assignments are just starting to come up in the semester. Right now, I make my appearance in class as a reminder for students that I am there as a resource for them. Today, Dr. Anderson and I had a meeting to talk about doing joint office hours so that we could offer writing support and content support at the same time. Depending on how busy our joint office hour is, we may take the opportunity instead to talk more about topics surrounding the class, or possible activities I could do as a writing fellow.
For future fellows, I believe my best advice is not to be super nervous about meeting with your faculty partner. Most professors are happy to have you as a resource, and you can take the program however you see fit. I would also recommend embracing hearing your faculty partner’s experiences as a professor. They can give you an insight into what it is like to be an educator, especially if you are interested in being an educator yourself. I also think it has been interesting to be a writing fellow for a course that is outside of my primary education. If it isn’t possible to be a writing fellow in a course related to your major, try being a writing fellow for a different style of course! It can also allow you to develop faculty connections in other parts of the university.
I have met with Dr. McCray a few times so far! We mostly email back and forth. I also have a class with her so we will often chat right after class. I had a great experience with Dr. McCray so far. She is so nice and offers lots of suggestions based on experiences with her past writing fellows. We have met to discuss how to explain my role to students, what assignments I should help with, ways to encourage students to meet, and what my role in the classroom would be. My advice to new fellows would be to not overthink it at first. I was a little nervous at first because it was a different dynamic than normal. It very much helped that I have had multiple classes with Dr. McCray and have gotten to know her. I would also say don’t be afraid to ask your faculty mentor questions. They have lots of information and knowledge that they can share. The writing fellows program is a great opportunity to allow students to develop a relationship with a professor and learn from them. Overall, all of my experiences with my faculty mentor have been great! It has been very casual and encouraging. Dr. McCray is very nice and I am very lucky to be able to work with her!
I have had a few one-on-one meeting with Prof. Tuttle, but mainly our communication is through updates over email. Our first meeting was to actually put a face to a name and to come to a consensus on what my role in the class was going to be. I go to every Monday lecture for the class, as I am unable to attend on Thursdays. I mainly do this so I can get an idea of what Prof. Tuttle is expecting them to take from class and put into their writing, seeing how the students are grasping the concepts that they have to write about, and so I have some context for the material when I read their work. After I had my first meeting with a student, I put it in my notes on my tutoring log, and she emailed me expressing gratitude for being there to help. She has been vey easy to communicate with and I am happy that I could be an addition to her class.
For Future fellows, I would suggest reaching out to your faculty partner early, so they can work you into their syllabus ASAP. I would also recommend going in to your first meeting with them knowing what your purpose is as a fellow, as in my experience, that decision was left more up to me. If they are fellowing for a class they’ve never taken or something that has nothing to do with their major, I would encourage them to learn a lot from the experience, as it has been very fun for me, personally, to learn about these new topics and exercise the more humanities-focused side of my brain.