Titles are Hard...
I've never actually blogged before, so we'll see how this goes. I am, as Claire so lovingly put it, one of the "seasoned tutors" working in the Writing Center this year. What she means by that is that I have been tutoring by the seat of my pants since January and hoping that I get everything right. So far no tutees have come back to me with torches and pitchforks while waving their failed papers in the air, so I think I've accomplished most of my goals.
One thing I've always been nervous about tutoring is whether I'm doing/explaining the right things to the tutee. Often I find myself working most on the grammar or the commas because that is what is easiest to find and fix. Though, as was mentioned in class today, I have always had the hardest time explaining why a certain rule should be used. Some of the basics, such as the use of quotation marks or periods, are easy to explain, but when a phrase has to be set off by commas or the sentence doesn't make sense, it's a lot harder to explain why. Also, I find I'm nervous about whether or not the tutee will actually remember what I'm babbling about half the time, or whether they think I'm just talking in order to fill up time.
Another thing that I often get nervous about while tutoring is the amount of explanation required when tutoring ESL...er...LEAP students. It's always hard to determine exactly how fluent their English is and whether I should speak more slowly, especially as I have a habit of speaking at rapid-fire paces when explaining a concept I know really well. Also, when I ask what their main concerns are for their paper or what their assignment is, they most likely answer with concerns about grammar or that their professors told them to go to the Writing Center to get the grammar checked. I suppose this is good, but I always feel that I should be telling them more.
Most of my other anxieties, however, have gone away through experience. I no longer feel sheepish when I don't quite know the answer to a question (especially when it comes to APA format...I still don't know exactly what to do with half of those citations) to go to another source, whether it be a book or another tutor. I also feel more comfortable with talking to tutees and being open and friendly with them right from the start. I had trouble with that in the beginning because I always assumed that they were simply there to get in, get on with it, and get out. That didn't change until about the middle of March when a tutee saw me writing some notes on a music staff and asked me what instrument I played, after which he told me all about his accordion-playing skills and how much effort that took. Even though the conversation lasted a little over two minutes before we actually got to working on his paper, I still felt much more comfortable pointing out both good things and problems with his paper.
Overall, I think that, with the help of this class and my continued efforts in not sucking terribly at being a tutor, my other fears and doubts will be dealt with. I'm definitely looking forward to that aspect of tutoring!
One thing I've always been nervous about tutoring is whether I'm doing/explaining the right things to the tutee. Often I find myself working most on the grammar or the commas because that is what is easiest to find and fix. Though, as was mentioned in class today, I have always had the hardest time explaining why a certain rule should be used. Some of the basics, such as the use of quotation marks or periods, are easy to explain, but when a phrase has to be set off by commas or the sentence doesn't make sense, it's a lot harder to explain why. Also, I find I'm nervous about whether or not the tutee will actually remember what I'm babbling about half the time, or whether they think I'm just talking in order to fill up time.
Another thing that I often get nervous about while tutoring is the amount of explanation required when tutoring ESL...er...LEAP students. It's always hard to determine exactly how fluent their English is and whether I should speak more slowly, especially as I have a habit of speaking at rapid-fire paces when explaining a concept I know really well. Also, when I ask what their main concerns are for their paper or what their assignment is, they most likely answer with concerns about grammar or that their professors told them to go to the Writing Center to get the grammar checked. I suppose this is good, but I always feel that I should be telling them more.
Most of my other anxieties, however, have gone away through experience. I no longer feel sheepish when I don't quite know the answer to a question (especially when it comes to APA format...I still don't know exactly what to do with half of those citations) to go to another source, whether it be a book or another tutor. I also feel more comfortable with talking to tutees and being open and friendly with them right from the start. I had trouble with that in the beginning because I always assumed that they were simply there to get in, get on with it, and get out. That didn't change until about the middle of March when a tutee saw me writing some notes on a music staff and asked me what instrument I played, after which he told me all about his accordion-playing skills and how much effort that took. Even though the conversation lasted a little over two minutes before we actually got to working on his paper, I still felt much more comfortable pointing out both good things and problems with his paper.
Overall, I think that, with the help of this class and my continued efforts in not sucking terribly at being a tutor, my other fears and doubts will be dealt with. I'm definitely looking forward to that aspect of tutoring!
posted by Jessika at 3:46 PM
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