Flowchart: Dr. Joel

To save time, I'm not going sit here and type a big speech on my flowchart. Besides, it's not like I do something completely different. So here is what I do when I help one of my students:

• Greet them and sit down.


• Ask them how his/her day is going? (trying to get them to relax)


• Since I know my students (I have my regulars), I ask them how their classes are going. (again, just making them feel comfortable with me helping them out)


• Ask them "what's up?" (how can I help them)


• I ask them what kind of assignment is this paper that I am about to read.


• What class it this paper for?


• I read the paper.


• After I read it, I ask them what is "their message" in the paper. I am trying to see if what they tell me matches, or even comes close to, what they have written on their paper (it's all about the thesis statement, subject, message, style, if it matches with what the assignment asks, and everything else that makes up an academic paper here). If what they tell me is not what they are saying on the paper, I kindly show them how their paper is not fully showing what they are really trying to say. This is the diagnosis portion of the tutoring session. From here, we work on how to improve their paper. This is when the operation portion. This is where changes, cutting a few things from the paper, focusing on a thesis statement, etc, will occur.


• After we have finished the operation part, I review with the student what to work on from here (recovery and release portion). It is now up to the student to work on the rest of the paper. Not that I don't want to help him/her out more; it's just that I don't want to rewrite his/her paper. The student has to finish his or her paper on their own. Remember, it is the student's paper.


• Finite