Weekly Writing Tip: Find a Brainstorm Partner

Idea generation can be tough when it is just you and a computer or book sitting in an empty room. Information is available at your fingertips, but how do concepts connect? What do you think about an issue? What led you to draw those conclusions? Often, students find themselves sitting and staring at the assignment, spacing out, or looking for anything else to do.

Finding a brainstorm partner can make a BIG difference. A classmate, tutor, friend, parent, or significant other who is willing to listen and ask questions can help you clarify your thoughts, process difficult concepts, or come up with new ideas.

Ask someone if it is okay for you to bounce ideas off of him or her. Meet for coffee or at a library. Respect his or her time and set a limit for your meeting - time limits are good for you, too; it is easy to spend a lot of time brainstorming. Describe your assignment to your partner. Let him or her know that you only expect a listening ear and someone to affirm ideas or ask clarifying questions.

Special thanks to the Tutor Training students at LWIT who helped generate the ides for this post.

Enjoy Reading this Summer

Via Teach.com and USC Rossier Online

Weekly Writing Tip: Revise Globally First

Before getting too focused on the details of your writing - punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, etc. - read through your paper and make sure you have said what you want to say, that your message is clear.

Identify your thesis. Is it clear and strongly stated?

Find your main points. Does each one support the claim you made in your thesis?

What about the supporting details for your main points? Do they stay on topic? Have you shown the reader how the details connect to your main point and also how they connect your main point to the thesis? Tell the reader directly. Assume he or she will not see the connections unless you spell them out.

Finally, review your conclusion. Does it summarize or tie together your paper without directly repeating or adding supporting information? Find a way to reveal how all of the main points support the thesis. Leave the reader feeling like, "Yes! What you claimed is true!"

SMART Goals

We often hear from teachers, mentors, life coaches, and others about the importance of setting goals. Maybe you have a Bucket List or a certain GPA you hope to earn each quarter. Whatever area of our lives we set goals for, it is helpful to fully consider our goals and how we will achieve them. SMART goal-setting provides a way to do just that.

 

Specific: Describe your goal in detail. Also, consider the steps it will take to achieve a goal. Make each step a goal. For example, your goal might be, "I want to be a nurse." That is a great goal! But, it is not very specific. Instead, consider the goal, "I want to earn my CNA licensure. Then I will work towards my RN." The details of your goal may take some research.

 

Motivational: Set goals you are passionate about, goals you are motivated to achieve. Why is your goal valuable to you? How will it change your life? What will you be excited about getting up in the morning to do? We often have to take steps towards our goals that we are not very excited about, but if our overall goals motivate us, we can make it through. For example, "I want to earn my Associates in Welding, but I really don't like English." Maybe you will develop a love for English, but if not, the goal of being a welder means enough to you to stay committed even during tough classes.

 

Achievable: YOU can actually reach your goal. Your strengths and abilities and the opportunities you have make achieving your goal possible. Remember that nothing great is accomplished alone but that the responsibility for reaching your goal is on you. Set goals, seek out the support and assistance of others, but do not rely on them to achieve your goals for you. For example, your goal might be, "I will earn a 3.5 in math this quarter." In order to achieve your goal, you work with a math tutor. It might be tempting to place a lot of responsibility on the tutor for achieving your goal. In the end, however, your hard work and commitment to learning the material is what will help you reach your goal.

 

Relevant: Set goals that are consistent with your other goals. For example, "I want to complete the automotive program and the engineering graphics program in two years" are both great goals, but together they are not achievable (mostly because the class times conflict). Either prioritize your goals and focus on those that are most important or change the specifics of each goal. 

Time-Bound: Create reasonable deadlines for your goals. Instead of, "I want to get this paper done," set the goal as, "I will brainstorm points related to my topic today, start my rough draft tomorrow, and have the first draft written by the end of the week. Then, I will meet with a writing tutor a few days before the paper is due and make my final revisions."