LAB LOGISTICS
English A and B/ Classroom Labs
SUGGESTIONS FOR FACULTY
1. Give the tutor your assignment sheet and discuss your criteria and priorities. Set it up so
that the criteria are limited to three or four items. Then prioritize these so if time is up,
you can end the conference without too much being lost.
2. Design your assignment so that no more than one or two grammar errors are introduced
with each essay; this way, you need only identify and explain a limited number of errors.
3. So that the tutor has a clear idea of your expectations, ask that the tutor sit in with you on
your first conference for the first few essays.
4. Request that the tutor write as many comments as possible in the margins (both good and
bad) so that you can see the tutor’s suggestions. Demonstrate this in your own modeling
conference.
5. If you are working with source-based topics, review with the tutor the amount and type of
supporting detail you expect students to present. You may want to give the tutor a sample
outline with supporting evidence included.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FACULTY AND TUTORS
With 35 students and one tutor, speed is essential for both of you. Each of you should spend
the same amount of time with each student, approximately 7-10 minutes. With 120 minutes
and with each of you seeing about 17 students, that leaves fewer than 10 minutes per student.
Some suggestions for efficient conferences follow:
1. Read the paper quickly to yourself, writing in the margin (as you read) short comments
regarding the top criteria. Then go back and discuss your comments, embellishing
these—if necessary—given the student’s feedback.
2. Do not get entangled making line by line corrections; put grammar issues at the bottom of
your priority list and then limit them to the one new item introduced with the paper.
Inform your students at the beginning of the semester that once a grammar item has been
taught and reviewed in an essay, then the students are responsible for proofing for that
grammar item in any subsequent essay. For past errors that persist, suggest that students
see a WC tutor for a grammar conference—a one-on-one conference on a particular error,
such as comma splice, fragment, subject/verb agreement, or quote integration.
3. Do not get sidetracked from your agenda by the student asking questions.
4. Do not hesitate to be honest; if the first page is irrelevant, then indicate that it should be
taken out. Or if the draft is not following the outline, then explain how the essay needs to
be reframed.
5. Do not ask the student how she/he feels about the essay or any other “Where is the
problem?” question. This approach wastes valuable time and delays the agenda (the
prioritized criteria). Better to engage the student during your discussion of your written
comments.
6. Require outlines and rough drafts to be written on standard lined paper, with lines
skipped, so that the reading may be quick, not hampered by illegible writing. Requiring
that work be typed is even better.
7. On your first lab, require an outline (or something similar) so that you know, before
seeing the rough draft, that the frame has been approved. Then the draft can become a
very quick read.
8. Limit topics to one or two, so that criteria are applicable to all essays and content
expectations are known to both tutor and teacher.
9. Divide the class so that you take the first half for Essay 1 and your tutor the second half.
Then for Essay 2, reverse the groups. Continue alternating for the semester.
10. Devise a method whereby students know in advance when their conferences will most
likely be, first or second hour. This knowledge allows them to plan ahead, and if they are
last, to write most of their draft in class.
11. While students wait for a conference, they can be working on their drafts, working in
small groups on grammar drills or any exercise that you might want to assign, or
homework for the next class session.
TUTOR DUTIES: Do’s and Don’ts
1. The tutor is to work one on one with the student on his or her writing (either prewriting
materials or rough drafts).
2. Tutors are to be used for the full classroom time; the only exception is a brief overview
by the teacher as to the lab activity for that day or any discussion with the tutor that the
instructor feels is necessary.
3. Tutors are not to work on grammar drills or to facilitate peer editing groups or to lead
small group discussions.
4. Tutors are not to grade essays.
NON-LAB DAYS: Notifying the Tutor
Try as best you can to begin labs as soon as possible (certainly within the first three weeks) and
then to continue with them until finals. Tutors are committing time to your class with the
expectation of a certain amount of salary to follow. Frequent cancellations of labs hurt not only
the objectives of the program but also the good faith agreement that the tutor has made with the
department.
If you need to cancel a lab day, please let the tutor know in advance. To accommodate this,
please exchange telephone numbers and email addresses as soon as you meet. If the cancellation
is last minute and you cannot reach your tutor, please call me (660-3595 Ext. 6136) or the
Division Office (660-3593 Ext. 3316)) so that we may notify the tutor.
USING THE WRITING CENTER (Humanities 122) 660-3873

Please encourage your students to see us in the Writing Center. All English A and B
faculty receive our flyers, so please pass these out as soon as you receive them.

Assignment Sheets: Remember to remind your students to bring their textbook
assignments or assignment sheets to the WC. These assignment sheets are required for a
writing conference. (Please see attached “Tips for Creating Effective Writing
Assignments.”)

Prewriting: Don’t forget that we also see students who need help getting started;
students may come in with nothing written and the tutors will help with brainstorming
and outlining. (Please see attached flyer.)

Textbook Driven Tutorials: Finally, encourage students to enroll in our basic grammar
tutorial, an individualized self-paced grammar course, based on the book, Basic
Grammar and Usage by Penelope Choy. We also offer tutorials in vocabulary building,
using Wordly Wise (books 1,2, and 3) by Hodkinson and Ornato and English idioms,
using Essential Idioms in English by Dixson These texts can be purchased at the
bookstore or through Amazon. Finally, we also offer individualized grammar tutorials.
THE WRITING CENTER WEB PAGE
Please note that our current flyer, computer lab rules, and prewriting information sheet are posted
on our web page. You can google ECC Writing Center to access the flyer; then click on the links
to access specific items. We also have grammar links there as well. Please check it out and direct
your students to it. To find us from MYECC, go to Humanities and scroll down to Writing
Center.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me. Thanks for your support!