Tutor's Block
When I was about 10 years old, I remember very well the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills. I was in fourth grade at the time and I knew how important it was to do well on the exam. The TAAS test was used up until 2003 to evaluate students in the areas of math, reading, and writing. As a class, we would take what seemed like ample time to prepare for these exams, but I still got nervous when the time came to perform.
Seeing how the reading and math portions of the test were multiple choice, I breezed right through them and finished before most of my classmates. The writing section, on the other hand, proved to be a devastatingly painful event. We knew what was coming. We had practiced all the possible types of essays to be written. But, when I saw the instructions to write a “how-to” paper, I about peed my pants! I sat for hours, as I watched each my classmates leave the testing room, with the most severe case of “writer's block” that could possibly be inflicted upon a poor, helpless fourth-grader.
My teacher tried all that she could to get me to start writing, but my condition seemed hopeless. Finally, Mrs. Bullard opted for drastic measures. Taking me by the hand, she escorted me to the principal's office where I was receive by the dreadful Dr. Herlocker. Even the mention of her name would strike fear into any student's core! I don't remember what she told me, but I do remember that after I left her office I was on the brink of tears and I wrote a paper within half an hour about how to make a flashlight out of a mild jug! In the end, I was honored at a school assembly with 2 other students for outstanding accomplishment on the Texas TAAS test.
Writing has always been a fear of mine. In the past, the pressure of knowing that my peers and teachers could see into me in my words made me wish I could just cry out and disappear! But in reality, I do love it, and since I've been in college, I've learned that I enjoy letting others know what I think and expressing who I am. But then again, as with any new experience that seems to come my way, I feel a apprehensive. I hope it's not a case of “tutor's block” coming on!
Since my elementary days, I've had to learn how to incorporate structure in my assignments and confidence in my words. What my classmates and teachers thought of what I had to say is what made me feel the most nervous. This time, I seem to be on the other side. I'm the one who will be reviewing the words of students seeking help. It wasn't until I took English 2010 that I truly took advantage of a tutor to help me touch up my papers. But now that I see what they do, I wonder if I'll have what it takes to tutor just as I wondered about my own writing ability.
Though I am nervous about my abilities, I have luckily learned a great deal over the years and think I can confidently declare that “tutor's block” won't keep me from putting my thoughts into words.
Seeing how the reading and math portions of the test were multiple choice, I breezed right through them and finished before most of my classmates. The writing section, on the other hand, proved to be a devastatingly painful event. We knew what was coming. We had practiced all the possible types of essays to be written. But, when I saw the instructions to write a “how-to” paper, I about peed my pants! I sat for hours, as I watched each my classmates leave the testing room, with the most severe case of “writer's block” that could possibly be inflicted upon a poor, helpless fourth-grader.
My teacher tried all that she could to get me to start writing, but my condition seemed hopeless. Finally, Mrs. Bullard opted for drastic measures. Taking me by the hand, she escorted me to the principal's office where I was receive by the dreadful Dr. Herlocker. Even the mention of her name would strike fear into any student's core! I don't remember what she told me, but I do remember that after I left her office I was on the brink of tears and I wrote a paper within half an hour about how to make a flashlight out of a mild jug! In the end, I was honored at a school assembly with 2 other students for outstanding accomplishment on the Texas TAAS test.
Writing has always been a fear of mine. In the past, the pressure of knowing that my peers and teachers could see into me in my words made me wish I could just cry out and disappear! But in reality, I do love it, and since I've been in college, I've learned that I enjoy letting others know what I think and expressing who I am. But then again, as with any new experience that seems to come my way, I feel a apprehensive. I hope it's not a case of “tutor's block” coming on!
Since my elementary days, I've had to learn how to incorporate structure in my assignments and confidence in my words. What my classmates and teachers thought of what I had to say is what made me feel the most nervous. This time, I seem to be on the other side. I'm the one who will be reviewing the words of students seeking help. It wasn't until I took English 2010 that I truly took advantage of a tutor to help me touch up my papers. But now that I see what they do, I wonder if I'll have what it takes to tutor just as I wondered about my own writing ability.
Though I am nervous about my abilities, I have luckily learned a great deal over the years and think I can confidently declare that “tutor's block” won't keep me from putting my thoughts into words.
posted by Brad Mack at 7:24 PM
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