Teachers Offer Their Services at Writing Center
Opened this fall, the new Writing Center is a collaboration between the English, history and religion departments and was formed to serve as a central location for students to receive faculty feedback on their writing assignments.
During most evenings and daily formats, at least one teacher has offered to meet with students in the library commons. The center will offer assistance with any in-class papers or college application essays for seniors, offering feedback and suggestions. Students are encouraged to make an appointment at a time most convenient for them.
“This will be a great resource for all students. We are very lucky to have teachers who are willing to put in the extra hours to help out students.”
The idea for the Writing Center originated two years ago from the Dean of Academic Affairs Karen Lassey. There was a proposal during a department chairs’ meeting for a learning center, and it was received with mixed reviews from faculty. The former chair of the English department Lundy Smith and chair of the history department William Jordan decided to redraft the idea.
“We thought it was a really good idea,” Jordan said.
Last year, when English instructor Ellen Wolff became chair of her department, she and Jordan worked together and held several meetings with teachers who wanted to volunteer to offer help. The group created a set of guidelines to follow when reading papers written by students they didn’t have in class. For example, teachers at the Writing Center will not read a paper already commented on by another teacher or give a potential grade for the paper. The purpose of the extra help is to receive feedback and suggestions from a teacher who they do not have in class.
English instructor Alex Myers is organizing the appointments and schedule for the center. Before he came to Exeter last fall, Myers worked at St. George’s School and started a similar faculty-run writing feedback system. He explained how the situation there was similar to how it is at the Academy—teachers offer extra help to students when they are on duty in the dorm—and how it benefited students in need of help.
“You’d be like, ‘Oh I’m supposed to be looking after the dorm, but I’m also helping students with their writing,” he said. “We just formalized it.”
Myers said a system with appointments worked well for years because it helped students make deadlines for their writing. In addition to this, it allowed students to hear a different viewpoint or more advice.
“Something I saw at St. George’s was students would say, ‘Okay I have an essay due on Friday so I’ll make an appointment for Thursday morning and that will make me actually write something,’” he said.
Jordan believed the Writing Center will work well alongside the Peer Tutoring Center. He pointed out that while some students feel comfortable going to their classmates for feedback, others may not. “So maybe this will open up a door for people to get more help with their writing,” he said.
Upper Aum Bhuva was excited by the news and plans on utilizing this new resource and pointing lowerclassmen toward it as a source of help for learning how to improve their writing.
“This will be a great resource for all students,” he said. “We are very lucky to have teachers who are willing to put in the extra hours to help out students.”
Along the same line, upper Emily Green hopes to utilize the Writing Center for U.S. history papers. “I think that will be really helpful for when I’m tackling the 333, so I’m happy they decided to make that this year,” she said.
Upper Gavin Hickey also plans on making an appointment. “I think a lot of people will do this because it’s very helpful and easy,” he said.
Upper Michael Bamah described the new center as “a great implementation” to the school’s academic help team. “Coming in as a prep, I had never written a narrative before and would have loved to have someone read my papers,” he said. “I do think everyone should try and do this at least once during their time at Exeter because teachers who are busy are taking the time to help you out.”
Prep Mai Hoang appreciated the support of the teachers. “It’s great that they are willing to help students that they don’t teach themselves and are willing to give up some of their free time for that,” she said.
Myers is excited about the Writing Center because it is one of the few times departments can work together.
“We all teach writing, and so this is a way we can all be apart of teaching that skill together,” he said. “Students don’t have to write a certain way for history and another way for English and another way for religion. Good writing is good writing.”