Tutoring Expectations and Experiences

One of my initial anxieties about working in the writing center was the worry that the tutees might just want me to fix their papers rather than cooperating and trying to recognize their strengths and weaknesses and how they can prevent or correct problems in their writing. So far, this hasn’t been the case. Students who have visited the center have been very open to suggestions and revisions. However, perhaps students with more negative attitudes are more likely to come during crunch times like midterms and finals rather than the first couple weeks of school. Even if students just want short-term improvements and aren’t interested in identifying mistakes they are likely to keep making, our discussion in class yesterday was a reminder that the students are in charge of their own work and decisions. As such, there is no point being worried about this situation. All a tutor can do is try to help as much as the students will allow and keep the environment welcoming so that the tutees may be more inclined to keep coming and continue making progress.

In observing several sessions, the tutoring process seems fairly straightforward which is what I expected. The tutor begins by addressing the assignment and asks the tutee about any difficulties experienced while working on their assignment. Then they discuss the best way to approach the paper and what they hope to address. Once those three things have been covered, the tutoring beings. At the end of the session, some tutors summarize what has been discussed and review primary problems in the paper and positive aspects in the paper. I think this is really helpful because it can help students to leave with a sense of direction about how to tackle issues in the paper and feel good about the things they did well.

Another part of the tutoring process that I noticed during the sessions is that they are pretty flexible. If a student has not come to get help with a written paper but help starting a paper, a tutor can look over the assignment, allow the tutee to read aloud difficult passages of text that the paper will be addressing, and listen to possible ideas the tutee can write about. I really like that we are free to help the students with any aspect of the writing process. It really reflects the writing center’s desire to serve the students and not get caught up on the students’ work.

While I did not get to tutor this week, I have led a few workshops. Although many educational research studies argue against teaching grammar, I can see the need for students to be familiar with some of the terminology their teacher’s will be using when providing feedback on their paper or explaining why some of their sentences are unclear or incomplete. Though I don’t know how well the students attending the workshops will retain the information reviewed during the sessions, there is a general improvement in their scores on the posttest when compared to the pretest. Overall, I think the workshops are beneficial to those in attendance.

1 Week Older and Wiser Too!

I have only been able to tutor one student, but I have observed quite a few sessions. the student I tutored by myself had taken some liberties with the assignment and it was interesting to see how she had interpreted the teacher's request. She caught most of the grammatical errors herself as we read the assignment together. I wasn't too anxious about the session, as it seemed to match up with the few sessions I had seen up until that point. I think my expectations were met on that one.

The next few sessions I observed were all very different, and what I now think I need to expect has changed quite a bit. One student just needed help learning/remembering how to write a paper. He didn't even know how to start... nothing about brainstorming, freewriting, outlining... nothing. The tutor was very good about starting with the basics and helping the student work through the assignment.

Another interesting session (two, actually) that I was able to overhear were ESL students asking about when to use an infitinite and when to use a gerund, i.e. I enjoy swimming, I like to swim. That was one where the two tutors discussed the answer with each other, and with Claire and no one could really find a good 'rule' to tell the students. Itw as a good eye-opening moment to realize that we won't always have the answer. And while we shouldn't let someone leave with unanswered questions, sometimes we will have to tell them to come back later and let us try and figure it out.
Overall, I'm excited to get some more real-life experience tutoring.

Hey, This Is Fun!

Well, I have been tutoring all week, and it is very exciting. I am beginning to feel comfortable with my position and finding my own style. The best thing about tutoring is that with few exceptions, students are happy to be here. They want to succeed and they realize we can help them. I have yet to encounter a student who is not appreciative and respectful. It helps to have a great group of people who are experienced and always willing to help answer questions for us newbies.

I have found both challenges and opportunities in every session. My biggest challenge has been to resist the temptation to just fix errors. I have made it a point to ask each student whether they have a pen, and if not, to offer them mine so they can make their own corrections and changes. I tell them that it is their paper, and that I am merely a resource. I have found this to be very effective. The students seem to feel more comfortable this way because they realize that they still own their work.

I have also found that recognizing patterns is very important for students. Often during a tutoring session, I will point something out once and the student will catch similar mistakes later in their paper by himself or herself. It is a very rewarding experience to feel like I am teaching rather than fixing, and to know that I am helping students to help themselves.

Remembering to avoid directive tutoring is an even bigger challenge with online sessions, because I cannot have a back-and-forth conversation with the student, so I have to really think about what I can say or ask to get the student to become aware of a pattern or error, and how to fix it. I have tried to take my time in composing each reply and also to put myself in the student’s shoes before hitting “send.” I ask myself whether I would understand what is being communicated and whether I would recognize a pattern given what I am writing in the email response.

As for my anxieties, most of them are slowly disappearing. The wonderful thing about working at the Writing Center is that people who come to us generally trust us. At first, I was scared by the thought of not having every answer. Now, I am realizing that it is alright to not know everything. We are not perfect and we are also students who are always learning. What matters is knowing where to find the answer and using every resource at our disposal to help our students succeed.

I am also becoming more comfortable with the process. Each student’s needs are different, but I am beginning to get my rhythm and to manage my time more effectively. I noticed that at first, I had the tendency to go too fast, but the last few sessions have gone better because I have slowed down and taken my time explaining concepts to students. I have also told each student to stop me at any time if they have questions or would like to discuss anything. That seems to make them feel like they are full partners in the process.

Week 1. Personalize the Session

           

This is Shaun Conner.  The blog calls me Captain because I already have a blog and that is my user name.

            My first week was good.  I learned a lot from talking with and observing other tutors.  I observed three different tutors and each had a personal style.  One tutor sat back and let the tutee guide the session and ask questions, while another took a more active position, making suggestions and giving encouragement.   I think both approaches worked well for the tutee.  I hope that I will be perceptive enough to determine early in a session which approach would work best for the tutee I am working with. 

            I also had the opportunity to tutor by myself for the first time.  I tutored four sessions on Wednesday.  Three sessions were with ESL students.  The ESL tutees all wanted to focus on syntax, grammar, verb conjugation, and word choice.  I was hesitant because I had learned to focus first on the overall organization and effectiveness of the piece. The papers were all short and based on simple topics, so they were not hard to organize or develop. All three ESL papers were personal essays, so the students had clear ideas of what they wanted their papers to say. These students really did need help on the sentence level. 

            I had trouble with things I had not anticipated. One student had difficulty understanding when to use an article (the, a) and when not to.  The tutee could not hear the difference and I did not want to just give her the answer.  We talked it over and she told me what her ESL professor had already taught her.  By the end of the session we both had a better understanding of articles. 

            Another student wrote about a specific religious practice.  His writing was accurate but he left out a lot of necessary information.  There were words and concepts he assumed the writer would understand.  It took me a moment to explain that a reader unfamiliar with his religion would have trouble following his descriptions.  

            The other session I took was with a student from 0955.  She was having trouble with parts of speech.  We went through the lesson in her textbook.  The concept was simple but the language was difficult for her to follow.  It was helpful to have it “translated” for her.  We then worked through a few examples on her worksheet.  I thought she would have trouble with prepositions and conjunctions, but she actually had trouble nouns and verbs, specifically with “ing” nouns like bowling.  They look like verbs, bowling is something you do, but they are really nouns.  I had to listen to her questions before I started giving instruction.

            The biggest lesson I took from the first week was to personalize the sessions.  If you had given me the situations as hypotheticals in class, I would have suggested different routes than I ended up taking in practice.   I am glad we talked about personalizing the session beforehand, and that the tutors I observed were good examples.  

Shaun Conner 

Title

While I haven't had the chance to actually tutor someone, I have been able to sit in on a few sessions. What I have seen from my observations puts me much more at ease than I was before. It seems like most people that come in aren't required to be here, mostly because they are so easy going about visiting. My expectations were to see a bunch of crazy and belligerent college students biting at the throats of the people that are trying to help them. I as so glad that this hasn't been the case, at least so far.

What did catch me off guard was teaching the workshops. Initially, I was very nervous about teaching them, and I think my nervousness was well placed. Being in front of that many people is pretty nerve racking, and I found myself almost shaking throughout the first three sessions. On my fourth session, I felt like I was getting the hang of it and opened myself up a bit, and as a result, the rest of the room also opened itself.

Teaching the workshops has given me great insight into what teachers go through while teaching their classes, and I respect them so much more now. Timid students can be kind of awkward, but not nearly as awkward as a room full of staring eyes. The hecklers also add a bit of relief to the room, which kind of loosens me up. It was a good experience. Maybe.

Eye Opening

Over the last week, I've been able to observe a number of tutoring sessions by a variety of tutors. It has been an eye-opening experience to see how common certain writing errors occur. I think that every session has needed help with coordinating conjunctions. This is surprising to me because they have always come fairly easily to me. I expected comma and other punctuation issues as well as a variety of grammar confusions, but not so many questions about conjunctions.

I have been pleasantly surprised at the general writing skills and complexity of ideas from students including ESL students. It's good to know that many students have strong ideas of what to say, but they only need help expressing and organizing those ideas. I hope that I was able to lend confidence to students by sharing that I have struggled with the same organizational issues as well as trying to come up with theses. Sharing writing strategies that I have learned seemed to help them relax about the stage of writing they are working in. They expect to have a finished draft on the first try, but seeing that it can be best to just get a bunch of ideas on paper and then re-read to work on organization and editing eases a lot of their fears.

Here We Go!

So. You should all have gotten some real, live tutoring experience this week. How did it go? Did your experience line up with your expectations? With your anxieties?

The Cultural Impasse

Culture, diversity, and exploring the ideas of people who hail from exotic lands with worldviews vastly different than my own were some of the most enticing aspects of the job when I applied. As I've observed several of the master tutors working with the ESL students I've noticed that the language barrier is slightly higher than I anticipated. Generally, the sessions just take a little longer and require a great deal of patience, although there is the occasional session where the tutor and the tutee reach a kind of stalemate as a result of being fundamentally unable to communicate a concept or idea. This has become the greatest sources of my anxiety regarding my new position. I want so much to help them express the ideas they have so clearly formed in their minds but can't necessarily translate or communicate in English, but I know I will eventually experience one of these severe cultural diversions that will cause a good deal of stress and frustration. I'll be taking a page from the tutors I've observed and employing a considerable amount of patience and encouragement, and hopefully, the tutee and myself can scale that language barrier.