Pretty good? That's pretty objective.
What constitutes a pretty good paper? I mean is it just grammar and punctuation issues? Or is it perfect grammatically, but has some minor structural issues? What out of these is easier to tutor?
I think it depends on the tutee. If the tutee is looking for grammatical help and that's all, then I guess a pretty good paper is one with those issues and no others.
There is a larger issue at work here and it has to do with the writing process in general. Our ideal is to be involved in the writing process from the beginning, so a pretty good paper would be one that we have helped the student with from the origin. However, this is the ideal and not very often the reality.
It also depends on the tutee saying things like "This is due in an hour" or "I have three weeks to work on this." This changes what our role is in terms of the paper. "Due in an hour" means that we have to basically perform triage. "Due in three weeks" means that we have time to work on the process of writing and development of the paper as a whole.
I know that several times I have gone into the writing center with a pretty good paper and I just needed some guidance in terms of organization or flow. I think that asking the tutee exactly what they want is an excellent starting point. The paper itself may be pretty good, but the tutee may be seeking excellence.
I also see how the paper we read in class could be considered "pretty good." Conversely, it could be considered mediocre. It's all relative and as tutors we need to be conscious of what our tutees are asking for. The paper we read in class might be pretty good for a lower level undergraduate class, but not for a master's class or an upper-division class. We should always be aware of what class the paper is for. What's good enough for one may not be good enough for all.
I think that our greatest gift as tutors is the ability to be subjective about what we tell our tutees. Just as LEAP students need more help with grammar and syntax, other students need more help with structure and organization and we have the ability to distinguish these things.
I still think the best thing is to question the tutee as much as possible to get out of them their purpose in coming to tutoring.
I don't really have anything else to add to this so...
I think it depends on the tutee. If the tutee is looking for grammatical help and that's all, then I guess a pretty good paper is one with those issues and no others.
There is a larger issue at work here and it has to do with the writing process in general. Our ideal is to be involved in the writing process from the beginning, so a pretty good paper would be one that we have helped the student with from the origin. However, this is the ideal and not very often the reality.
It also depends on the tutee saying things like "This is due in an hour" or "I have three weeks to work on this." This changes what our role is in terms of the paper. "Due in an hour" means that we have to basically perform triage. "Due in three weeks" means that we have time to work on the process of writing and development of the paper as a whole.
I know that several times I have gone into the writing center with a pretty good paper and I just needed some guidance in terms of organization or flow. I think that asking the tutee exactly what they want is an excellent starting point. The paper itself may be pretty good, but the tutee may be seeking excellence.
I also see how the paper we read in class could be considered "pretty good." Conversely, it could be considered mediocre. It's all relative and as tutors we need to be conscious of what our tutees are asking for. The paper we read in class might be pretty good for a lower level undergraduate class, but not for a master's class or an upper-division class. We should always be aware of what class the paper is for. What's good enough for one may not be good enough for all.
I think that our greatest gift as tutors is the ability to be subjective about what we tell our tutees. Just as LEAP students need more help with grammar and syntax, other students need more help with structure and organization and we have the ability to distinguish these things.
I still think the best thing is to question the tutee as much as possible to get out of them their purpose in coming to tutoring.
I don't really have anything else to add to this so...
posted by Unknown at 10:54 AM
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