Looking forward to first tutoring session (with a good deal of anxiety built in)

As a late hire, my tutor orientation is scheduled for this Wednesday, so I have not yet had my first tutoring session. I have been reading over some of the posts on the blog and most seem to mirror my feelings and a few included some interesting subjects that I had not thought about before.

I imagined my first tutoring session to begin with a 1010 or 2010 student. They would have a thesis that was okay or maybe somewhat lacking, something I could help them strengthen or clarify. I am a naturally quiet person, so I sometimes worry that I wouldn’t ask enough questions or share enough information to make the session as productive as it could be. I’m very glad to be brushing up on grammar and syntax, because although I know them well enough to write a good paper, I don’t know them well enough to explain them in detail to someone who has trouble with writing. Something I hadn’t expected, though now I realize is very likely to happen, is to possibly have an ESL student for my first time tutoring. One tutor had some experience with Farsi and was able to better help a student that was native in that language. I took a class in Chinese and had few semesters of French, but as far as Arabic or other Non-Latin languages, I am pretty much clueless. During orientation, I hope to learn more about helping DELC students as well as the basic parameters of a good tutoring session. That way, my first session will be as helpful and productive as possible.