***The explanation and requirements below apply only to the 11:00am ACE designated course section.***
(That said, I strongly encourage anyone and everyone to utilize the amazing support services that CLAS has to offer.)
Follow this link to see information about both CLAS and Siena: Siena’s CLAS Slides
As the syllabus explains, we’ll be working closely with CLAS throughout this quarter. Writing support is available to everyone on campus at CLAS (https://clas.sa.ucsb.edu/subjects/writing-languages); 893-3269. Here, peer tutors provide individual assistance to students on writing assignments, ESL, and languages across the disciplines — any writing at any stage of the writing process.
As part of the ACE designation for this course, we have a tutor, Siena, assigned to the course, and she will be dropping in the class throughout the quarter to touch base and connect with everyone in the course. Additionally, you will be meeting with Siena at CLAS for one-on-one writing tutorial appointments throughout the quarter. Because this is such a valuable resource for your development as writers, I want to go beyond just encouraging you to take advantage of this and have actually implemented it into the overall assessment for the course. (You can schedule your appointments with Siena through the CLAS website (as explained below).)
CLAS Course Requirements
If you take a look at the contract grading expectations for the course, you will see that in order to receive a “B” for the course, you need to attend at least 2 CLAS writing tutorials throughout the quarter. These tutorial sessions are each 25-30 minutes long and can be focused on any stage of the writing process, including but not limited to: working through the prompt, brainstorming, drafting, revising, organization, structure, word choice, etc. There is value in talking through your ideas and writing at each stage of the process (not just right before it’s due), so we’ll also be taking that into account with how we are integrating CLAS this quarter.
In order to receive credit for your CLAS appointments, you need to do the following:
- Schedule and attend a CLAS writing tutorial.
- You can schedule an appointment here, and try to be sure to do so with Siena, as she is already very familiar with the course expectations and assignments.
- Show up to CLAS at the Student Resource Building 3231 for your appointment. Be sure not to miss it.
- While you are welcome to meet with the tutor more than once for an essay, you will only receive credit for one appointment per essay. In other words, you should schedule an appointment for each essay (rather than only meeting multiple times for a single essay).
- You should try to schedule your appointments at different stages throughout the writing process each time. For example, if you meet for brainstorming help soon after the prompt is assigned for the “How-to”/Genre Analysis essay, then you’ll want to maybe focus on revision after the peer response session for the REP project. In other words, do not wait until right before the essay is due to go to CLAS.
- After your appointment at CLAS, you should write a 300 word reflection on the experience. While this can be written conversationally, your reflection should:
- be in traditional essay format – using complete sentences and paragraphs for clarity and structure and to ensure your points come across to your reader,
- establish the context of the session – making clear what you worked on with your tutor and why,
- be analytical in nature – reflecting on the experience, pointing to specific moments as evidence, and ideally, drawing conclusions about what was helpful, what wasn’t, and what you learned about your writing or your identity as a writer from the experience.
- “Submit” your CLAS reflection with the “final” draft of the essay that you worked on.
- This can be either a separate document in your individual folder or it can be included with the final draft itself. Either way, be sure it is clearly labeled in order to receive credit for the visit.
*Note: You will not receive credit for the appointment if you do not submit a reflection. Due to administrative, labor, and privacy concerns, your tutor will not be able or expected to confirm whether or not you attended an appointment.
As a final note, I am a HUGE believer in CLAS and the help that it can provide. If you ever have any questions about any of this or want to know more about tutoring writing, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I would be more than happy to talk about it!