ESL flop

I just completed my first shifts today. The first hour I worked no one came in. So, I decided to re-read the English assignment discussing ESL students. The information seemed very clear and concise. I liked the organization of the piece because it was manageable. There were different examples and explanations that helped me think through scenarios and how I would handle the varying situations. After the two hour break, I was really excited to start tutoring. I felt very prepared. The articles and lectures and conversations in class seemed to have given me sufficient background for my first session. I knew that I would not know everything, but I envisioned very smooth sessions.

I began working my second shift at six. The first tutee came in; I was too shy to start the session. I asked Jenny if I could observe her on the first session. She did very well. She began asking the tutee about the assignment and what she wanted to get out of the paper. I thought that Jenny’s questions were very thought provoking and the tutee seemed to gain a better understanding of what she wanted from the paper by having to answer those questions. I actually began to feel quite intimidated because I know that asking those types of questions does not come naturally to me. I prefer answering which is a problem. I should not answer for the tutee, but instead of finding good questions for them, I just give the answer.

The second person came in. I said that I would like to watch and maybe give a few opinions-trying to ease into my own session. He had a full paper, and Jenny asked him to read it out loud. I did not realize how many different types of papers there would be. I knew that we covered across the curriculum, but I have never done a time management paper. I did not take the first year experience class, so I began to feel like I would not be able to help anyone. This was a concern of mine before; I did not know if I would be able to tutor different subjects because I have not gone through those classes. This, however, turned out to be a little easier than I thought. The tutee asked how the flow of his paper was, and I was able to give him some pointers, and I also showed his a few small errors to watch for. I am still a little nervous about tutoring some types of papers just in case the tutor asks about things I do not know anything about.

Finally, I got the courage to do my first session. This just happened to be an ESL student. I thought, “Great! We just covered techniques about this!” Well, I did not do as well as I thought. I ended up working with her for 45 minutes! I had a lot of trouble finding different ways to word incorrect phrases. I know I need to cut down on my time by finding patterns and fixing bigger errors. In this case, we went through her whole paper, and fixed all of the comprehension problems and a few tense and article errors. But, on the positive side, Jenny was watching me and helping me out during my session, and after the session, she told me that she really liked how I paused and asked the tutee if she understood or had any questions or if that is what she wanted to say. So, I do well at clarifying, but I need to find patterns quickly and give a few examples.