Time as a tutor

So the things I learned in my fist semester as a tutor can be divided into two categories, knowledge and skill set.  The two categories influence each other, but it is still a useful division, one that would have been helpful for me to recognize as a new tutor.  As a new tutor I was a little stressed about tutoring on my own.  When I realized that I could look up what I didn't know and could only develop the skills I needed through practice over time, I was able to relax more.

Perhaps I could add one more category.  As a graduate student in class we studied the field of writing pedagogy.  In general what we studied was highly theoretical.  The conclusions to many of the articles we read were often something like, "So the entire educational system at the primary, secondary, and university levels needs to be restructured to more effectively teach writing."    This task is obviously beyond the capacity of a tutor in the Weber State writing center, so at fist I found these  conclusions overwhelming to the point of irrelevance.  It is only now, looking back, that I can begin to appreciate how studying these in depth  theoreticals has affected the way I approach a tutoring session.  They have changed the way I view writing as a mode of learning and communication.  I am better able now to focus on the students' underlying processes and approaches; I understand better why they write the way they do.  One of the first things Claire told me to do when I began tutoring last spring was to focus on the student and not the paper.  I think focusing on the system, process, and purpose of writing has helped me do that.

So to sum up, I have learned a specific knowledge base -- grammar, MLA format, academic conventions, a skill set -- how to speak calmingly to stressed students, how to explain IC without having to explain the basic structure of human language, and a theoretical or cognitive approach to writing -- focus on process, understand the purpose of writing.

I am sure that with more time I will continue to develop in all three areas.  I would like to spend some time next semester focusing on how to better help the ESL students.  I always feel like I just add articles to their papers and call it good.

My Time as a Tutor

My time spent as a writing tutor this semester has been pretty awesome. Conversing with students and helping them to develop their potential to become great intellectuals is quite the rewarding job. Not only that, my own competency as a writer has been on the increase ever since the semester started,and now that I've been awarded the Master Tutor's Certificate and gained some excellent experience on the job, finding a high-paying occupation in Beijing will turn out to be a cinch, at least I hope so. And so, I guess now is a good time to reflect on everything that seems to be growing out of my head that concerns tutoring writing. Well to be honest, the pay isn't too bad, but it's not like I'm making a six figure in-come driving my Lamborghini down the streets of Ogden, while all of the people look-on with envy, either. I suppose the greatest reward to be found working as a writing tutor is the opportunity to work at a university and become an expert in some field of knowledge. Whoops! I think there's a dangling modifier in the previous sentence. It looks terrible for a writing tutor to have a mistake such as that, but I'm guessing that reading my blog post is the last thing on peoples' to-do list.
So, furthermore, it kind of dawned on me towards the end of the semester that as much as I don't like posting bodies of text on the Internet - because I feel insecure about other people reading them and finding mistakes and in turn thinking that I'm one can short of a six pack - in similar fashion, students probably don't feel good about having their essays torn apart by grammar/punctuation Nazis in the writing center. Consequently, I want to congratulate Dr. Rogers and Dr. Hughes for ingeniously mandating that each classmate post his or her thoughts on a blog for the whole world to see in order to teach us a lesson in humility when is comes to thinking that we are the end-all-be-all of composition.
Moving on, through my musings of research articles, I stumbled upon a concept that is called Politeness Theory. If you haven't heard about this theory then I suggest that you look it up. Politeness Theory is useful because it can teach us knuckle-headed tutors how to not shatter fragile egos when helping students perform linguistic surgery on their papers. Having your writing looked at is akin to a visit to the Doctor's office where he or she asks you to turn your head and cough, a humiliating experience if there ever was one. So, like wise it's important to approach each tutoring session while being as polite and understanding as possible.

Insight

Tutoring has given me a lot of insight about what I want to do as a teacher:

1. Be very, very, very clear about the directions and expectations of assignments. Many students who come into the writing center feel that they don’t fully understand the assignment. While some students catch on quite quickly, it seems that many are unclear about what to do or how to do it—it doesn’t matter if the assignment is a summarization or an analysis. These problems arise because students are fairly new to academic writing, because they don’t pay attention during class, and because some students are anxious about asking their professors for clarification both in and outside of class. They are responsible for making sure they understand assignments but I want to avoid as much confusion as possible and be clear when explaining requirements.

2. Provide a basic overview of writing principles at the beginning of each semester and review what constitutes a thesis statement, the purpose of topic sentences and what they should include, and how to properly incorporate quotes (with introductions and explanations). It is amazing how many students—those in lower division and upper division courses—are unfamiliar with these basic principles of writing.

3. Show students how to look up formatting information and basic grammar conventions in the handbooks or online so that they can learn how to answer some of their own questions rather than just guessing.

4. Require papers to be formatted in line with standard style guides. It is amazing the number of problems that arise because teachers have their own quirky preferences. This makes writing a guessing game and does not help students learn the generally accepted ways of formatting. It also makes it so that they can’t look up the proper way to do something which can be quite frustrating for students.

5. Be approachable. Students sometimes ask questions in tutoring sessions that really can only be answered by the professor. While I can give general suggestions about how I would approach the situation, the professor would have a better idea since it is their class. I don’t know why students don’t discuss these questions with their professors—maybe they don’t want to seem ignorant, maybe they have a hard time reaching the professor, or maybe they just don’t feel comfortable. Either way, I want to let students know that I will be available to help.

6. Try to make personal connections with the students. Tutoring sessions and workshops are always more enjoyable when there is a good relationship.

Is It Really the Last Week?

This semester has been a lot of fun. I would have to agree with Brandi that above all, it has been a wonderful learning experience. I feel more confident in my own writing, and I have noticed that I am getting much better at finding the right words, both when writing and when speaking.

I have spent a lot of time responding to OWLs, so I have written a ton this semester. This is also the first semester that I have worked over 15 hours while going to school full time, and I found that while it can be really difficult at times, it is also really rewarding. With that said, I am still really looking forward to the break. I am excited to be done with all my classes this semester and to move on to my last year of college. To most people, getting a college degree is nice, but I doubt it means as much to most people as it will mean to me, as no one in my family ever even got an elementary education.

The workshops were especially intense this semester. I did quite a bit of public speaking in the Navy as an administrative non-commissioned officer, but this was totally different. This is much more challenging. It is not just the passing of information, but actual teaching. The workshops also taught me rules that I did not even know until I started working here. I often wonder how I got through English 1010 and 2010 without ever being taught those rules.

I am really grateful to Dr. Rogers and Claire for their support this semester. I am also really glad that I got to take a class and work with a bunch of really intelligent, ambitious, and kind bunch of guys and girls.Merry Christmas, peeps.

I've Learned More than I've Taught

Where to begin... Being a tutor has enriched my life in many ways. One, I speak better in public because of the workshops. Previously, I would feel my sympathetic nervous system kick in with its shortness of breath and heart racing effects, and I would shut down. The first couple of workshops were just like this. I dreaded them, but now, I am grateful that I have been exposed to this type of environment. How did I ever plan to teach if I couldn't stand in front of a class and do it? That is another way being a tutor has enriched my life; I get to experience actually teaching.

Now that I have taught the workshops and students on an individual basis, I know, for sure, that teaching is what I want to do. I know that I am good at it, too. It is such a rewarding experience to see the same students, in the workshops and in face-to-face tutoring, progress. I feel like I have done something helpful.

I love my job as a tutor. I have been able to meet many people from all different backgrounds. Because of this, I've learned many things about the world and myself. It is very rewarding to be able to work with the people at the writing center.

Well?

How's it been? I'd like to see you all take some time to reflect on your time as a tutor.

Corporate Greed-fest

This weekend my mom and brother came to visit, we cleaned a bunch of stuff out of our house to make room for the baby and we took a load to the D.I. None of us were in the mood to cook a Thanksgiving dinner, so we went out to eat at Jerimiah's. It was fine food, but not great, and the price was higher than I'd have liked. I had a much better meal the next night at CJ's for less money. The wind blew pretty much all the leaves off the trees in our neighborhood, so we spent a lot of time and trash bags raking leaves.

As for fun stuff, I got to spend some time with my family, I played a bunch of Magic: The Gathering online with a buddy, I watched Season 5 of the webseries The Guild, and I watched the Dragon Age: Redemption webseries. So, I have had a pleasant helping of Felicia Day. I didn't take part in anything related to "Black Friday," but I did go to Wal-Mart on Friday and bought a new surround sound system for our living room. By the time I was there, it was not any more busy than a normal weekend at Wal-Mart. I read some of the stories of the crazy shit that people pull to save a few pennies on crap they don't need and makes me sad for our race. Granted, I bought something I don't need, but I didn't pepper spray a crowd of people to get it or trample someone to save money on it. I bought something I wanted and could afford at a reasonable price.

End anti-greed rant. Now, I'm trying to get into the mindset to write papers and looking forward to the end of the semester and the arrival of my son.