How First-Year Writing is Meeting Students Where They Are through Supplemental Instruction

When Donald McQuade visited GSU’s campus in the Spring of 2014, he emphasized the importance of “meeting students where they are.” In this panel presentation, the two Writing Program Administrators who have overseen first-year writing (FYW) and two students, one a Graduate Assistant to the WPA and the other a supplemental instructor, will address the design and implementation of supplemental instruction, a program that places peer tutors within the FYW classroom. The WPAs will discuss the development of and conceptual approach to this program, which is designed to provide support to all students in the writing classroom. They will explain the theoretical basis for the program as well as the process for training supplemental instructors and engaging FYW teachers in the program. The two students, both of whom have served as supplemental instructors, will discuss how they have developed adaptive approaches to students. One will focus on how she has negotiated the matter of authority in her relationship with students by “mirroring” instructors. The other will discuss how reflection has enriched his practice of working with students and how he has created a safe space for students to develop