PAPER READING CONTRACTS Written by Mamie Hixon, Randi Gingerich, and Rustian Phelps PPt by Rustian Phelps, 2011

Our... MISSION. Is to maintain records of our... Paper Reading activities, to provide. USEFUL... Feedback... to professors, to boldly go where... ALL. Paper Readers... MUST. GO. Okay, men... and Lieutenant Uhura... I want to... TALK. To you... about... CONTRACTS. The final frontier.

You must complete each contract immediately after the paper reading. I have my own system, Captain; I write everything down so I will not forget what to say when I do all my contracts at the end of the day. You. Must. Complete. Each. Contract. IMMEDIATELY! After the paper reading.

Fill in all boxes on the contract; dont leave any questions unanswered. If the students paper doesnt yet have a title, write a brief description of the paper topic, not just an assignment number. Say, Paper on the Hidden Dangers of Tribbles, not Assignment 2.

Take time to proofread and edit your commentary. We are looking for the nuclear wessels. Thats vessels. We are looking for the nuclear wessels.

Be tactful even if youre writing about an unsuccessful paper reading in which a student was, say, obnoxious or rude. Say, The student seemed angry and acted as if he did not want to participate in the interactive session, not THE STUDENT JUST SAT THERE and looked STUPID. Say, This paper reading did not yield positive results and then explain why; dont say, This paper reading was USELESS!

If the student comments about showing up just to fulfill the paper reading assignment, be sure to notify the instructor in the commentary, but cite the information as something the student said, not as your personal, subjective observation (and maybe assumed opinion). Say, Marta informed me that she was not interested in doing anything except fulfilling the Writing Lab paper reading component of the course, not Marta came in just because you told her to get her paper read by a Writing Lab paper reader.

Avoid confrontations with students. Ms. Hixon will serve as your bouncer and negotiator; shell use policy, precedent, and her best judgment to make a fair and equitable decision that will become the basis for all other decisions in similar situations.

Paper Readers should also avoid abbreviations and ampersands; a paper reading contract is a formal document.

Describe what took place during the session with regard to editorial changes the two of you agreed to make in the paper, not what you thought of the student or the paper. Avoid statements such as these: Scotty is a great writer. Scotty is a nice person. This paper should get an A. I hope Scotty gets an A. I like this paper.

Explain what happened during the reading. Is it a grammar check? Explain that you read for typos and grammatical errors. Is it a final draft? Explain that you also looked at structure and content. What about formatting? Begin your commentary by explaining in broad terms what the reading accomplished.

For example: Mr. Spock and I read his paper for typos and grammatical errors while checking the papers structure, content, and style. We began by examining format to make sure that it is consistent with MLA style.

Next discuss specific areas of concern. If you find a mistake, explain how to fix it. If you have a question, make that fact clear to the professor. Your commentary should not repeat the content of the checked sections; it should explain the tone of the reading and discuss specific or recurring problems. If you cant find many mistakes, say that you didnt find them, not that they werent there (saying that errors didnt exist reflects poorly on the Lab and on the reader if the professor finds errors while grading). In other words, do not write, The paper had no errors.

It is okay to address the professor directly using the second person; dont write Bones was not sure whether or not his professor wanted him to… Dont tattle, but make note of any problems that occurred during the reading. Mention whether or not the student brought the assignment or textbook and how you used such resources during the reading.

Be sure to tell the professor if you did not read the entire paper. Your commentary may or may not include all of the elements I just described; it should be 6-10 sentences long.

For example: Nurse Chapel told me that she has trouble with spelling, so I paid close attention to her spelling as we read. She was also unsure about how to cite an electronic journal in MLA style; we looked at examples of MLA Works Cited entries on the Writing Lab web site. I gave her a card with the Writing Labs Web address. She was not sure whether or not you want her to include links in her Works Cited entries; I told her that MLA style does not require it but that she should ask you if you want her to include the links. Nurse Chapel also had several comma errors in her paper; specifically, she had trouble identifying introductory elements. I showed her the Commas minilesson on the Lab website. Aside from comma errors, I found few grammatical mistakes in her paper. Nurse Chapel uses informal language in her paper. I explained the importance of maintaining an academic voice in her writing, but she does not want to remove idioms from her paper. The structure of Nurse Chapels paper is consistent with the outline on the assignment page she brought. We could not read the conclusion because of time constraints, so I told Nurse Chapel to pay close attention to comma splices when she edits that section.

Wrap things up by explaining how the reading went. How did the student respond (or not) during the reading? Got it, Captain.

Thank you, Mr. Sulu. Youve helped Mr. Chekov a lot. Anton was receptive to my comments, and though he was quiet, he interacted with me during the reading. He came prepared with specific questions for me, and he answered all the questions I had about his paper.

Good job, men... and Lieutenant Uhura. Remember. The... contract... is the place where you C.Y.A. – COVER. Your... azz. A detailed contract benefits not only the... instructor and the student, but also. YOU.