Educating for the Future: Empowering Student Writers Through Writing Center Pedagogies

I appreciate all your sources as well. I am constantly looking for useful articles and other people to brainstorm them with.

These are fantastic suggestions coming from a university director who wants to connect to our high schools in the areaw.

I really appreciate the strategies and that timeline, showing that it's not just going to happen immediately, especially with no prior relationship with the schools or teachers.

This was a great presentation and was very, very helpful!

At first, I didn’t enjoy writing in the journals, but towards the end I did. The journal lets us learn how far our thinking and creative capabilities go and how to expand them. The journals also give us the chance to think from different viewpoints and how to write in certain styles. The journal has also helped me improve my handwriting.

I have learned that I should not be too shy to ask questions every time I’m confused.

At the beginning of this semester I wanted to be a better writer and reader. Having to write about different topics every day helped me tremendously. Also, having to write a whole page and having to manage my time while writing helped me a lot.

Thank you for always being so positive and being so patient with us. And thank you for a great year full of learning.

I'm a Youth Leader at my church now... and I'm constantly telling my youth kids to listen to you and enjoy ya'll's time together because I remember how much you helped me grow in school! [Facebook comment, 2021]

I discovered that if I look hard and find a good book in the library and start to read it, then I usually won’t want to stop. Reading is like having a TV in your head.

I remember our first essay we wrote in this class, and I told my professor that I often struggle with being able to just write without my own expectations getting in my way. Dr. Waters told me that first drafts are the most important part of any assignment, and that it is equally as important to have that bad first draft so you can build and improve. She also told me not to get too attached to what I write in a first draft, and I think that was the hardest lesson for me to learn. I tend to think that my first ideas are the best that I am going to get, and I wasn’t willing to make any cuts to my ideas. I think it took a lot of mental persuasion, but eventually I did give in and started doing what I was told and it did significantly improve my writing. 

I think this course taught me what a writing center can be and what my responsibilities are as an instructor and AD to help the writing center be the best that it can be. The writing center was this separate entity that I didn’t really think much about over the past couple of years, because I was never assigned to work in the writing center. I’ve sent my students there for feedback, and kind of just forgotten about it. I realize that I have a role as an instructor, even if I am not splitting my hours in the writing center, to help the writing center so that the writing center helps my students. 

Overall this class was very eye-opening. I would also add that I appreciate the use of free-writes in class to collect myself and my thoughts. These entries really helped me develop my capstone, and helped give me a space to reflect on my own mental health and check-in with myself.

I appreciate you for writing an apology to your students. I also would like to apologize for not always being the easiest student. You have taught me things that have stuck with me and I am grateful to have crossed paths with you. Thanks for all that you do! And continue to become a better educator; we need more like you out here [Facebook post, 2020].

[Mrs. Waters] is an incredible teacher who puts her students interests first. She shares the love for her language, her culture, and knowledge.

Mrs. Waters in my words...

M - mother - Is a good working hard mom

R - reading - Is a good reading teacher

S - smart - Is a very smart and powerful person

W - wonderful - Is a wonderful teacher

A - awesome - Is an awesome caring person

T - teacher - Is a good working, caring, helpful teacher

E - early - Gets up early to teach her students

R - respectful - Is a respectful person towards me and everyone else

S - special - Is a caring, thoughtful, helping person

One of my favorite things about this class was the feedback we received. After each step in our writing process, Professor Waters made sure to give us feedback on our work through the use of screen recordings and comments in the margins of our papers. Using the feedback on the draft was one of the key successes of revising my work and getting it completed correctly. If we did not like the grade we received or we found mistakes or wanted to add something after we had already turned it in, Professor  Waters was kind enough to support us. I could tell that she greatly cares about us actually becoming writers instead of receiving grades. 

You've helped me improve my reading and writing so much! Thank you for caring in and out of the classroom.

Through this class, Professor Waters and my friends helped me better understand how to use these skills and this improvement showed through my rhetorical analysis essay. Before I had only written one rhetorical analysis in high school and it was surface level and didn’t truly convey the meaning of the text. I learned how to make my writing deeper, breaking that surface level and becoming a better writer.

Your professors are here to teach, but also want to help you. Professor Waters wants to talk to you, whether it is about class or not. She is always available on canvas or in person. You will not do perfectly on your first try, or if you're me, not even on your second or third try. Professor Waters provides you with the necessary steps to succeed on every assignment, no matter the importance. This class can be easy and fun, but you have to make it that way.

[Mrs. Waters'] ability to connect with her high school students is amazing. I am so thankful my son had the opportunity to be in her classroom for three years. Even though he didn't have her as a teacher his senior year, her door was always open to anyone that needed her. She is a wonderful mentor and we truly have the utmost respect for her!

This year in your class, I have learned that I can write if I apply myself. I have also learned that the more time, detail and thought I put into the writing and other assignments, the better grade I will make and the more sense my writing will make.

What I have discovered about myself is that I can write a really good story if I really try. I know that if I would just stop being lazy then I could get a lot more done and pass my classes.

Professor Waters is a kind and empathetic academic who cares deeply about her field and the success of her students. She was always directing us to places where we can publish our work and become better scholars. She was always receptive to the ideas that the students have and we can consult her at any time if we need guidance. Thank you very much for a great semester.

I have always enjoyed reading, but during 6th through 8th grades, I only read six books. This class has awakened my fire to read again, a fire that long ago burned out.

Thank you for constantly telling me that I am good enough to accomplish things. The first day I got here, my confidence was poor and I felt scared, but you helped me become more confident in my writing and storytelling ability.

I enjoyed writing our final projects. To me, they were tranquil and engaging at the same time, and I found it really easy to write about my niche, because it was something that I was genuinely interested in and enjoyed outside of class.

When I started this class, I wasn’t thinking about goals. It didn’t really matter to me. Later on, I realized how important writing is and how I’ll have to use it and be good at it in my career. I enjoy writing and reading now and I feel like that’s the biggest goal I accomplished.