The assumption for many college professors is that academic discourse is a hallmark of the educated, a form of communication accepted and expected both academically and professionally. Typically, academic discourse entails the conventions of a particular discipline's writing form. A writing center tutor and administrator must find ways to teach both grammatical correctness and the terms that explain classroom concepts. This is necessary for students to develop the writing strategies that will help them succeed in class and satisfy the expectations of colleagues across campus who expect clear writing as a component of academic success. Determining purpose and assessing what a student has produced provide a starting point for considering strategies that might improve writing clarity. In the writing center, the writing tutor can provide valuable modeling for the student by presenting the language to interpret assignment directions, and the tutor can model recognized terminology to help a student understand more complex concepts. The tutor is continually providing the language of academic discourse for the student to begin using to identify what he/she has already been doing. Linda Flower reinforces the pattern of working from student input. "Playing with your thoughts" is a process which can include brainstorming, staging a scenario, or even playing out an analogy. Those students who come empty-handed to a writing tutor often have not thought seriously about the assignment other than as a chore to complete. Students can best be inspired by showing the relevance of learning to their situations. Empowering a student by validating a powerful account is one way of making writing relevant. (NKA)