I walk the line.
As I read, I realized that I have approached the line in a few tutoring sessions. I have a tendency to offer too many suggestions when my silence would best serve the tutee. In the short run, everyone is happier when I hand out answers, but it's not actually helping anything. I need to be careful not to let me desire to be helpful outweigh my duties as a tutor.
I can remember a specific instance early in my tutoring career (that is, for whole weeks ago), when I committed the sin of overempathising. A student was working on several projects at once, including an outline for a speech. The student mentioned several times that she was taking over twenty credit hours and was unable to keep up with the demands of her classes. I tried to offer her sympathy, but ended up spending fifteen minutes listening to her ramble. Though I'm sure she felt a little better, her homework had not gotten any easier or more complete.
There is only one other time when I can remember stepping on the line. An extremely uninterested FYE student asked me to read through her paper and sign it, even though she made it clear that she "never really had any problems with writing." This would have been fine if it had been true, but unfortunately it was not. Her paper was decent on the local level, but plagued with global problems. There was rambling, excessive repetition, and an overall lack of cohesiveness. I tried to point these things out, but she reminded me that she had only come in for help with grammar. Refusing to take no for an answer, I offered unwanted advice until the poor girl's eyes glazed over. She stopped being snotty and started to ignore me all together.
The problem is that the line is fluid. It was probably necessary for the first tutee I mentioned to blow off some steam before getting to work, but how much time should be allowed for that? The second tutee had some problems that I thought needed to be resolved, but she didn't. Who wins? Sometimes the only way to resolve situations like these is to push the limits until the tutee starts to push back. Tutors must find a balance between what they have to offer and what students will accept. I think (and hope) it will get easier to determine where the line is as I tutor more. Now that I have the concept of an all important line in the back of my mind, I will be better able to recognize and avoid it.
I can remember a specific instance early in my tutoring career (that is, for whole weeks ago), when I committed the sin of overempathising. A student was working on several projects at once, including an outline for a speech. The student mentioned several times that she was taking over twenty credit hours and was unable to keep up with the demands of her classes. I tried to offer her sympathy, but ended up spending fifteen minutes listening to her ramble. Though I'm sure she felt a little better, her homework had not gotten any easier or more complete.
There is only one other time when I can remember stepping on the line. An extremely uninterested FYE student asked me to read through her paper and sign it, even though she made it clear that she "never really had any problems with writing." This would have been fine if it had been true, but unfortunately it was not. Her paper was decent on the local level, but plagued with global problems. There was rambling, excessive repetition, and an overall lack of cohesiveness. I tried to point these things out, but she reminded me that she had only come in for help with grammar. Refusing to take no for an answer, I offered unwanted advice until the poor girl's eyes glazed over. She stopped being snotty and started to ignore me all together.
The problem is that the line is fluid. It was probably necessary for the first tutee I mentioned to blow off some steam before getting to work, but how much time should be allowed for that? The second tutee had some problems that I thought needed to be resolved, but she didn't. Who wins? Sometimes the only way to resolve situations like these is to push the limits until the tutee starts to push back. Tutors must find a balance between what they have to offer and what students will accept. I think (and hope) it will get easier to determine where the line is as I tutor more. Now that I have the concept of an all important line in the back of my mind, I will be better able to recognize and avoid it.
posted by Anonymous at 12:35 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home