Drop-in Writing Centers
Obviously, I’m behind again. I don’t have a proper excuse this time, thank heavens. I’ve just been extremely lazy, sitting at home, reading romance books and eating bon-bons.
Is there a problem with drop-in writing centers? Well, from my little soap box vignette today, it’s apparent that I’ve found a problem with the drop-in-ness of our writing center. (Sadly, all of you that were in class will have to be bored to tears by reading this since I already talked about it. Buy, hey, I’ve got to get my blog in somehow.) In my estimation, the problem is not with the tutees, themselves, but with the tutors.
My regular shift goes from eleven until one, since I have a class that ends at 10:50 and one that begins at 1:00. We’ve all had the problem of deciding how soon it is kosher to leave at the end of our shift. Most of us have classes directly after our shift and therefore need to leave a little early so we can get to class on time. (The guy sitting next to me in the computer lab smells like curry. I’m getting really hungry.)
Today, at about 12:45 a tutee came in and I started to help him. His paper was only three pages, so I thought I could give him a decent session and be just a little late to class. However, after the first paragraph I realized it was going to take a long time. To really help him with all the problems it would have taken at least half an hour, more likely an hour. The poor kid knew what he wanted to say, but couldn’t write it down.
At about 12:50, after realizing how long a proper session would take, I was relieved to see another tutor come in, a veteran who didn’t “get” to go to the tutoring class. I got his attention and asked if he could help the tutee I was working with. “Yeah,” he said, “in another ten minutes.” He left the room for less than a minute, then came back in and sat in one of the chairs up against the wall. He just sat there, looking at the clock. I noticed another veteran tutor had come in, so I asked her to take over the session, which she graciously did.
This is the big problem I see with drop-in writing labs. If we had appointments they’d be on the hour and half hour (I’m assuming) which would give each student 20-30 minutes to sit down with a tutor and have their full attention. As it is, when I sit down with a tutee I still pause to greet students who come in the door and assure them a tutor will be with them as soon as possible. I also have people (tutors, tutees, random students, etc.) ask me questions while I’m tutoring, all of which interrupt the session I’m in. With appointments we could avoid the interruptions to greet other students since each appointment could be assigned to a specific tutor and only that tutor would need to greet the student. Obviously, though, it wouldn’t solve the random question interruptions.
Appointments would solve the problem I saw today. We wouldn’t have students coming in at 12:45 who need a session that lasts half an hour. The transition from one shift to another would work better since we wouldn’t have to make the decision to pass the tutees off to another tutor or be late to class.
I do not believe, however, that appointments are the ultimate solution. Tutors should be a little more on the ball. We shouldn’t have the ten minute lull every hour with tutors who are leaving saying “I can’t help you, I have to go to class in a few minutes,” and other tutors (sitting in the writing center) saying “I’ll help you in ten minutes when my shift officially starts.” (They never really start at the hour anyway, since they have to clock in, get their folder, get situated, write information in the folder, swipe the card, etc.) It is silly. If there are people who need a tutor waiting when a tutor gets to the writing center the tutor should clock in and help the person. It is just silly to wait for ten minutes. We all know we don’t work the exact amount of time our shift calls for, so let’s stop being idiotic and do the job.
Is there a problem with drop-in writing centers? Well, from my little soap box vignette today, it’s apparent that I’ve found a problem with the drop-in-ness of our writing center. (Sadly, all of you that were in class will have to be bored to tears by reading this since I already talked about it. Buy, hey, I’ve got to get my blog in somehow.) In my estimation, the problem is not with the tutees, themselves, but with the tutors.
My regular shift goes from eleven until one, since I have a class that ends at 10:50 and one that begins at 1:00. We’ve all had the problem of deciding how soon it is kosher to leave at the end of our shift. Most of us have classes directly after our shift and therefore need to leave a little early so we can get to class on time. (The guy sitting next to me in the computer lab smells like curry. I’m getting really hungry.)
Today, at about 12:45 a tutee came in and I started to help him. His paper was only three pages, so I thought I could give him a decent session and be just a little late to class. However, after the first paragraph I realized it was going to take a long time. To really help him with all the problems it would have taken at least half an hour, more likely an hour. The poor kid knew what he wanted to say, but couldn’t write it down.
At about 12:50, after realizing how long a proper session would take, I was relieved to see another tutor come in, a veteran who didn’t “get” to go to the tutoring class. I got his attention and asked if he could help the tutee I was working with. “Yeah,” he said, “in another ten minutes.” He left the room for less than a minute, then came back in and sat in one of the chairs up against the wall. He just sat there, looking at the clock. I noticed another veteran tutor had come in, so I asked her to take over the session, which she graciously did.
This is the big problem I see with drop-in writing labs. If we had appointments they’d be on the hour and half hour (I’m assuming) which would give each student 20-30 minutes to sit down with a tutor and have their full attention. As it is, when I sit down with a tutee I still pause to greet students who come in the door and assure them a tutor will be with them as soon as possible. I also have people (tutors, tutees, random students, etc.) ask me questions while I’m tutoring, all of which interrupt the session I’m in. With appointments we could avoid the interruptions to greet other students since each appointment could be assigned to a specific tutor and only that tutor would need to greet the student. Obviously, though, it wouldn’t solve the random question interruptions.
Appointments would solve the problem I saw today. We wouldn’t have students coming in at 12:45 who need a session that lasts half an hour. The transition from one shift to another would work better since we wouldn’t have to make the decision to pass the tutees off to another tutor or be late to class.
I do not believe, however, that appointments are the ultimate solution. Tutors should be a little more on the ball. We shouldn’t have the ten minute lull every hour with tutors who are leaving saying “I can’t help you, I have to go to class in a few minutes,” and other tutors (sitting in the writing center) saying “I’ll help you in ten minutes when my shift officially starts.” (They never really start at the hour anyway, since they have to clock in, get their folder, get situated, write information in the folder, swipe the card, etc.) It is silly. If there are people who need a tutor waiting when a tutor gets to the writing center the tutor should clock in and help the person. It is just silly to wait for ten minutes. We all know we don’t work the exact amount of time our shift calls for, so let’s stop being idiotic and do the job.
posted by Anonymous at 7:19 PM
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