Hey, it's me again.
I forgot to mention that I talked to Keenan about tutoring with friends. I also shared some of the examples that Steve as well as Alex gave. I'm hoping it gave Keenan a better understanding of what to do in that situation.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Kendra
Hey All,
I had another meeting with Keenan today. He has been sick (he lives in Michigan) and returned today. He hasn't had any students since our last meeting, so things have been quite slow. I asked if he had any concerns and he had none.
I also talked to him about the upcoming meeting - and how he should make an effort to go; especially since we will be talking about our ideas, sessions and goals. Keenan doesn't think he will make it, so I plan on taking notes to give him! Sorry for such a short post. Hope to see you all on the 9th.
Kendra
I had another meeting with Keenan today. He has been sick (he lives in Michigan) and returned today. He hasn't had any students since our last meeting, so things have been quite slow. I asked if he had any concerns and he had none.
I also talked to him about the upcoming meeting - and how he should make an effort to go; especially since we will be talking about our ideas, sessions and goals. Keenan doesn't think he will make it, so I plan on taking notes to give him! Sorry for such a short post. Hope to see you all on the 9th.
Kendra
Alex R.
Today was only a semi-productive day because Nita cut my meeting with Tim short. Half way through the session, she came up and told us that we needed to go to the grammar workshop. So we did. Before that, however, we were talking about our past sessions. He had one that I thought, from hearing what he told me, he performed very well on. His student came in and needed help with content more than anything, but was also needing help with grammar. So, instead of trying to divide his time between the two, he focused on the overlying issue (the content). I thought that it was great that he already knows how to focus on the main issues at hand rather than trying to do everything at once.
Then, we talked about one of my sessions because it's always helpful to talk about ESL students. I have one weekly ESL student who needs lots of help with grammar, sentence structure, and content. How I usually handle that session is we will spend about half of it working on grammar and sentence structure and the rest of the time on content. It is a little frustrating that this student doesn't actually show up every week, but what can you do?
That's about all we had time to do before the workshop.
Then, we talked about one of my sessions because it's always helpful to talk about ESL students. I have one weekly ESL student who needs lots of help with grammar, sentence structure, and content. How I usually handle that session is we will spend about half of it working on grammar and sentence structure and the rest of the time on content. It is a little frustrating that this student doesn't actually show up every week, but what can you do?
That's about all we had time to do before the workshop.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Coco
Hey,
I met with Colin the week prior to spring break but we didn't have much to talk about. For the week or two leading up to the break we both had a lot of no-shows, but he had an appointment later in the week with somebody who had neglected to show up for both of us on multiple occasions. I guess she did end up showing, because when I spoke to Colin this week he had a lot to say about their session. This is his third ESL session since he started, and as a result we had a very valuable discussion on techniques he's discovered that really help make working with ESL students easier. It's always something that I, myself, have struggled with.
Firstly, we talked a little about "letting things slide" in an ESL session. Colin said that he was a little frustrated because if he had focused on correcting every single language issue in the paper, he would've been there for hours. I've always tried to focus more on improving communication in ESL sessions rather than grammar. What I pay most attention to with these students is what point they're getting across and whether or not their idea is understood, not whether every single grammar issue is resolved.
The biggest technique we discussed was trying to find a visual idea to represent a grammatical idea that we weren't sure how to describe. The example he gave was his student using the phrase "by my opinion". He tried to explain to her that in English it's proper to say "in my opinion", but when she asked why he wasn't exactly sure what to tell her. Instead, he made up a visual idea to help her remember. He told her to imagine that her "opinion" is a big bucket and in order to give her argument, she has to reach into it and pull out her ideas. He said using little things like this really helped her improve her writing as well as her grasp on the language. We discussed our own experiences with speaking foreign languages, and how we came up with similar techniques, ideas, illustrations, etc. to help us learn all the little minute details. This is something I will definitely apply to future work with ESL students.
After we talked about ESL, our discussion sort of slid into Learning Disabilities. I think a lot of the things we discussed about ESL students would apply to helping students with disabilities as well. I have a student who has identified as dyslexic, and we talked about how similar the difficulties are with ESL and LD students. I feel as if I really struggle every week to help my student improve his writing, but despite this he seems to keep wanting to work with me. I often use the same technique of "letting things slide" with him, trying to get his point across and not focus so much on his spelling errors. I think the visual illustration idea would be a big help and I might try it next time.
I met with Colin the week prior to spring break but we didn't have much to talk about. For the week or two leading up to the break we both had a lot of no-shows, but he had an appointment later in the week with somebody who had neglected to show up for both of us on multiple occasions. I guess she did end up showing, because when I spoke to Colin this week he had a lot to say about their session. This is his third ESL session since he started, and as a result we had a very valuable discussion on techniques he's discovered that really help make working with ESL students easier. It's always something that I, myself, have struggled with.
Firstly, we talked a little about "letting things slide" in an ESL session. Colin said that he was a little frustrated because if he had focused on correcting every single language issue in the paper, he would've been there for hours. I've always tried to focus more on improving communication in ESL sessions rather than grammar. What I pay most attention to with these students is what point they're getting across and whether or not their idea is understood, not whether every single grammar issue is resolved.
The biggest technique we discussed was trying to find a visual idea to represent a grammatical idea that we weren't sure how to describe. The example he gave was his student using the phrase "by my opinion". He tried to explain to her that in English it's proper to say "in my opinion", but when she asked why he wasn't exactly sure what to tell her. Instead, he made up a visual idea to help her remember. He told her to imagine that her "opinion" is a big bucket and in order to give her argument, she has to reach into it and pull out her ideas. He said using little things like this really helped her improve her writing as well as her grasp on the language. We discussed our own experiences with speaking foreign languages, and how we came up with similar techniques, ideas, illustrations, etc. to help us learn all the little minute details. This is something I will definitely apply to future work with ESL students.
After we talked about ESL, our discussion sort of slid into Learning Disabilities. I think a lot of the things we discussed about ESL students would apply to helping students with disabilities as well. I have a student who has identified as dyslexic, and we talked about how similar the difficulties are with ESL and LD students. I feel as if I really struggle every week to help my student improve his writing, but despite this he seems to keep wanting to work with me. I often use the same technique of "letting things slide" with him, trying to get his point across and not focus so much on his spelling errors. I think the visual illustration idea would be a big help and I might try it next time.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Alex time
Hey everyone!
So I met with Stephen this week. I was unable to observe him since his Friday weekly didn't show up and the one drop in he had was during a time that I had a drop in. I was pretty bummed because I'm looking forward to seeing his work as a tutor.
He told me about his Monday weekly. He said that he is starting to see habits in his student's writing. He has a tenency to ignore basic grammar such as capitalization and mixes up words such as whole or hole. Stephen used the whiteboard approach that I told him about and he said it was very effective for his student. We discussed the capitalization issue and Stephen came to the conclusion that his student just relies too much on microsoft word to do the correcting for him. This is a common problem I think because we all tend to think word can do no wrong. I told him he may want to tell his student to proofread his papers before he comes in for tutoring. That way the session can be focused on the big picture issues and not the minor details.
So I met with Stephen this week. I was unable to observe him since his Friday weekly didn't show up and the one drop in he had was during a time that I had a drop in. I was pretty bummed because I'm looking forward to seeing his work as a tutor.
He told me about his Monday weekly. He said that he is starting to see habits in his student's writing. He has a tenency to ignore basic grammar such as capitalization and mixes up words such as whole or hole. Stephen used the whiteboard approach that I told him about and he said it was very effective for his student. We discussed the capitalization issue and Stephen came to the conclusion that his student just relies too much on microsoft word to do the correcting for him. This is a common problem I think because we all tend to think word can do no wrong. I told him he may want to tell his student to proofread his papers before he comes in for tutoring. That way the session can be focused on the big picture issues and not the minor details.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Kendra - (Keenan)
HAPPY ST. PADDY’S DAY!
So, I had another meeting with Keenan today. I was unable to observe him this past Monday because I had to study for midterms – however, he does have a weekly student Wednesday’s @ 4, so I do plan on observing him after break.
During our meeting, we talked about his two weekly students, Rachel & Ryan, who are doing great. He says that everything goes really good – but I would like to observe just kicks and giggles (also to get a feel for his tutoring style). He did express a concern to me: A student from one of his own classes (also a friend) made an appointment with him and he is worried that it will be uncomfortable. The student is coming to the WC for help on an essay that he didn’t do well on (teacher recommended students come to the LS if they did poorly on the mechanics). Keenan fears that he may come off as, “Oh, I’m better than you, because I’m helping you on a paper.” I explained to him that it’s okay to be nervous, but he can’t make the session feel uncomfortable or awkward for the student. I have never experienced this, but I did give him my two cents. I advised him to just take it like a normal session, but make sure to not get off topic by talking about kids in the class, the teacher, etc. – keep it to the writing aspect. If the student feels that uncomfortable with him, he should see the front desk and ask for another tutor to work with the student. Has this happened to anyone? I will let you all know the outcome in my next blog.
-Kendra
PS. I will not be here this Friday, and I believe Kathryn will be. So any mentor working on Friday, feel free to check with Kathryn to see how things are going with her!
So, I had another meeting with Keenan today. I was unable to observe him this past Monday because I had to study for midterms – however, he does have a weekly student Wednesday’s @ 4, so I do plan on observing him after break.
During our meeting, we talked about his two weekly students, Rachel & Ryan, who are doing great. He says that everything goes really good – but I would like to observe just kicks and giggles (also to get a feel for his tutoring style). He did express a concern to me: A student from one of his own classes (also a friend) made an appointment with him and he is worried that it will be uncomfortable. The student is coming to the WC for help on an essay that he didn’t do well on (teacher recommended students come to the LS if they did poorly on the mechanics). Keenan fears that he may come off as, “Oh, I’m better than you, because I’m helping you on a paper.” I explained to him that it’s okay to be nervous, but he can’t make the session feel uncomfortable or awkward for the student. I have never experienced this, but I did give him my two cents. I advised him to just take it like a normal session, but make sure to not get off topic by talking about kids in the class, the teacher, etc. – keep it to the writing aspect. If the student feels that uncomfortable with him, he should see the front desk and ask for another tutor to work with the student. Has this happened to anyone? I will let you all know the outcome in my next blog.
-Kendra
PS. I will not be here this Friday, and I believe Kathryn will be. So any mentor working on Friday, feel free to check with Kathryn to see how things are going with her!
Gannon
Hey all,
We spent the rest of the session talking about what one can do when a student comes in with a paper that is states their argument very clearly, but doesn't state it very well. I know that I get caught up with tutoring students with papers that need an awful lot of help that when a student comes along with a paper that is passing but not fantastic, it can be a little bit difficult figuring out what to work on. She agreed that she had had this problem as well, and that she felt as though she was better suited to work in extremes (either an excellent paper or a problematic paper) than with paper that or just OK. In these cases, we decided, all anybody can really do is to try and find the root of the persons argument and find a way for them to expand it.
Today I met with Mike. He feels as though his tutoring sessions are going well. When I asked him how he know the sessions are going well, he says that he can tell from the communication between himself and the student. He sees the student's learning through the conversation - instead of the student simply saying, "Oh, I understand. Yes, yes, yes.", the student show progress through discussion with the tutor.
We also talked about Steve's comments on one of my previous post about how one should be careful not to judge a session from the final moments, and that sometimes the shyness of a student is not a sign of failure. Mike agreed and said that he'd had a few very quiet students come in as one-timers, and then return a few weeks later. I suppose that just goes to show sometimes a good session can be hard to determine.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Gannon
Hey all,
I mentored Jo last Thursday, and she seemed unhappy about her current tutoring situation. In her entire time as a tutor she has only tutored three students. I imagine this must be pretty frustrating because she works Thursday for eight hours, and thus very rarely sees even one student for that whole period of time. Is there anything that can be done about this? I worry that she might feel disconnected from the Writing Center since she isn't (and can't be) doing much tutoring. Also, I should note she didn't want me to mention her discontent to y'all through the blog. I suspect she would like to be more involved but she doesn't want to ask for help. I'd like to help, but I don't know how. Any suggestions as to what can be done?
I mentored Jo last Thursday, and she seemed unhappy about her current tutoring situation. In her entire time as a tutor she has only tutored three students. I imagine this must be pretty frustrating because she works Thursday for eight hours, and thus very rarely sees even one student for that whole period of time. Is there anything that can be done about this? I worry that she might feel disconnected from the Writing Center since she isn't (and can't be) doing much tutoring. Also, I should note she didn't want me to mention her discontent to y'all through the blog. I suspect she would like to be more involved but she doesn't want to ask for help. I'd like to help, but I don't know how. Any suggestions as to what can be done?
Friday, March 12, 2010
Alex time!
Stephen got a new weekly this week! He is pretty excited becase he has alot in common with his weekly. The student had to do a personal discovery essay on wrestling so they spent the session brainstorming. Stephen once again used his approach of taking the paper away and having the student just talk about wrestling. This really seems to be a great process for him.
We discussed how as tutors we need to use different approaches with each and every student. With his shy weekly student he sits across from her, and tends to act more like a cheerleader since she still is complaining about her teacher. He will high five her if she does well on papers and such. With his new weekly he sits right next to them and there is a constant dialogue happening. I told him it's really great that he can use different techniques with students.
He had a weekly student who brought in a cover letter. The student said that they had to hurry the session so she could finish the letter before class. Stephen felt panicked at first because he felt rushed. However, he realized that she actually did not need make a lot of corrections. we discussed the whole students telling us we need to hurry a session along. Personally I feel that the student can feel rushed but I as a tutor should not have to over look errors or emit dialogue because a student chooses to wait until the last minute to do their work. Stephen more or less agreed with me. What do you all think?
Stephen hasn't had any difficult sessions or students so we discussed a new weekly I have who gives me a run for my money. I told him that my student tends to get confrontational, defensive, and lacks focus or clarity in his writing. I asked him how he would handle a student like this. He told me he would try to not be aggressive back but encourage the student to really back up the points they are trying to make in their essay. We talked about what to do when it's obvious the student is just going to get defensive when you help them with their writing. We did not really come to a conclusion about what to do. So once again what do you guys think?
We discussed how as tutors we need to use different approaches with each and every student. With his shy weekly student he sits across from her, and tends to act more like a cheerleader since she still is complaining about her teacher. He will high five her if she does well on papers and such. With his new weekly he sits right next to them and there is a constant dialogue happening. I told him it's really great that he can use different techniques with students.
He had a weekly student who brought in a cover letter. The student said that they had to hurry the session so she could finish the letter before class. Stephen felt panicked at first because he felt rushed. However, he realized that she actually did not need make a lot of corrections. we discussed the whole students telling us we need to hurry a session along. Personally I feel that the student can feel rushed but I as a tutor should not have to over look errors or emit dialogue because a student chooses to wait until the last minute to do their work. Stephen more or less agreed with me. What do you all think?
Stephen hasn't had any difficult sessions or students so we discussed a new weekly I have who gives me a run for my money. I told him that my student tends to get confrontational, defensive, and lacks focus or clarity in his writing. I asked him how he would handle a student like this. He told me he would try to not be aggressive back but encourage the student to really back up the points they are trying to make in their essay. We talked about what to do when it's obvious the student is just going to get defensive when you help them with their writing. We did not really come to a conclusion about what to do. So once again what do you guys think?
Kendraaaaaa
Hey all!
I had another mentor meeting with Kathryn today. This week, Kathryn was unfortunately very, very ill with food poisoning :(. She asked me in advanced what the protocol was for calling in sick. I explained to her that we just have to let the front desk know so they could let your students know. So, this is what we talked about for a little bit.
During the rest of the session, Kathryn and I talked about a student that we both had (mine on Wednesday). The student came in today for her session with Kathryn. They discussed the paper further in detail, reviewed the notes that Nancy left, and asked questions (what could you add here, details, etc.). We collaborated about the techniques we used such as having the student talk aloud and suggesting she go in more detail about her topic, which was on cereal. In the end, Kathryn and I realized that we had a similar tutoring style.
I think this was a great session for us to talk about because we both dealt with the same draft just in different sessions – we were able to comment on each other’s tutoring skills and collaborate about certain characteristics we noticed.
Have a great weekend!
Kendra
I had another mentor meeting with Kathryn today. This week, Kathryn was unfortunately very, very ill with food poisoning :(. She asked me in advanced what the protocol was for calling in sick. I explained to her that we just have to let the front desk know so they could let your students know. So, this is what we talked about for a little bit.
During the rest of the session, Kathryn and I talked about a student that we both had (mine on Wednesday). The student came in today for her session with Kathryn. They discussed the paper further in detail, reviewed the notes that Nancy left, and asked questions (what could you add here, details, etc.). We collaborated about the techniques we used such as having the student talk aloud and suggesting she go in more detail about her topic, which was on cereal. In the end, Kathryn and I realized that we had a similar tutoring style.
I think this was a great session for us to talk about because we both dealt with the same draft just in different sessions – we were able to comment on each other’s tutoring skills and collaborate about certain characteristics we noticed.
Have a great weekend!
Kendra
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Kendra
Hey all!
Today, I had yet another mentor meeting with Keenan. We collaborated about his weekly students - all which are going well. Like Steve said, I think I may come in on Monday to observe one of his sessions. I have yet to see him tutor, so I would really like to get a feel for his style. He had the same drop-in student as last week (the one that was extremely stressed about one of her papers). Keenan said that the student came in Saturday and didn't get as much help as she would have liked to. He handled this real well by telling the student that we're all different and that each tutor has his/her own style.
Keenan expressed many concerns to me during our sessions.
1) Grammar. He asked if I or any other tutor had encountered a student that just wanted to come in and work on grammar. I explained to him the situation that Kathryn had and how she handled it. I also shared one of my own experiences, where the student wanted to learn about semicolons, colons and commas. I told him that if the student comes in and wants to learn how and when to use these, then it would be beneficial to look up definitions and exercises on a resourceful site such as Owl at Purdue. I also explained that there is a grammar tutor that works with students specifically on grammar (located in the Journalism department).
2) What other concerns mentors had with mentees. I explained to Keenan that we blog about how our mentee sessions go and express/comment on concerns that other mentors have. He asked if mentees are allowed to see the blog. I don’t know the answer to this, so Steve or Brian?
3) Seeing your students at parties. I for one have never seen any of my students at a party. However, Keenan said that one of his friends had a party (he didn’t attend) and that one of his weekly students was there. He asked what to do in that situation. I explained to him that if you see one of your students at the party, you seem them at the party - however, when they come in for their appointment, the session cannot consist of talking about their social life and how spectacular the party was (being all buddy buddyy!!) We as tutors are here to make stronger writers, not gossip about who had sex with who...just an example.
** If anyone else has encountered this, feel free to comment or talk to Keenan.
Thanks all!
Kendra
Today, I had yet another mentor meeting with Keenan. We collaborated about his weekly students - all which are going well. Like Steve said, I think I may come in on Monday to observe one of his sessions. I have yet to see him tutor, so I would really like to get a feel for his style. He had the same drop-in student as last week (the one that was extremely stressed about one of her papers). Keenan said that the student came in Saturday and didn't get as much help as she would have liked to. He handled this real well by telling the student that we're all different and that each tutor has his/her own style.
Keenan expressed many concerns to me during our sessions.
1) Grammar. He asked if I or any other tutor had encountered a student that just wanted to come in and work on grammar. I explained to him the situation that Kathryn had and how she handled it. I also shared one of my own experiences, where the student wanted to learn about semicolons, colons and commas. I told him that if the student comes in and wants to learn how and when to use these, then it would be beneficial to look up definitions and exercises on a resourceful site such as Owl at Purdue. I also explained that there is a grammar tutor that works with students specifically on grammar (located in the Journalism department).
2) What other concerns mentors had with mentees. I explained to Keenan that we blog about how our mentee sessions go and express/comment on concerns that other mentors have. He asked if mentees are allowed to see the blog. I don’t know the answer to this, so Steve or Brian?
3) Seeing your students at parties. I for one have never seen any of my students at a party. However, Keenan said that one of his friends had a party (he didn’t attend) and that one of his weekly students was there. He asked what to do in that situation. I explained to him that if you see one of your students at the party, you seem them at the party - however, when they come in for their appointment, the session cannot consist of talking about their social life and how spectacular the party was (being all buddy buddyy!!) We as tutors are here to make stronger writers, not gossip about who had sex with who...just an example.
** If anyone else has encountered this, feel free to comment or talk to Keenan.
Thanks all!
Kendra
Alex R.
Hey all,
Tim and I had another session today. This one was rather productive. He told me that he was observed today. So, we talked about how that worked out for him. Apparently, he wasn't all that nervous, even though it was during his most difficult session (the student with cerebral-palsy). During his session today, he focused on content with the student rather than grammar and punctuation and things like that and it seemed to work for him. The student was much more involved in the session and willing to do the work. In the end, his observer told him that he did a good job.
The next topic that we tackled was dealing with an unprepared student. He had another student that had to do an essay on a book, but the student didn't bring the book with him. So in this instance, Tim worked with the student just getting his ideas down on a page. He talked with the student and asked him questions using the prompts on the assignment sheet. The student left with ideas for the paper. I think that Tim did a good job in this situation.
Another way to have handled the situation above, which was the next topic in our conversation, was to use Inspiration 8. This resulted in a little tutorial of the program. Just to have a student write something down is important, but I feel that it is also beneficial to have more than one form of brainstorming. That is why I use the program with students who don't bring in their work. Using Inspiration 8 allows them to leave with both a diagram and an outline of the discussion in the session. I'm not saying that Tim did anything wrong, I just wanted to give him another tool that he could use, if he wanted to, in a situation with an unprepared student.
Tim and I had another session today. This one was rather productive. He told me that he was observed today. So, we talked about how that worked out for him. Apparently, he wasn't all that nervous, even though it was during his most difficult session (the student with cerebral-palsy). During his session today, he focused on content with the student rather than grammar and punctuation and things like that and it seemed to work for him. The student was much more involved in the session and willing to do the work. In the end, his observer told him that he did a good job.
The next topic that we tackled was dealing with an unprepared student. He had another student that had to do an essay on a book, but the student didn't bring the book with him. So in this instance, Tim worked with the student just getting his ideas down on a page. He talked with the student and asked him questions using the prompts on the assignment sheet. The student left with ideas for the paper. I think that Tim did a good job in this situation.
Another way to have handled the situation above, which was the next topic in our conversation, was to use Inspiration 8. This resulted in a little tutorial of the program. Just to have a student write something down is important, but I feel that it is also beneficial to have more than one form of brainstorming. That is why I use the program with students who don't bring in their work. Using Inspiration 8 allows them to leave with both a diagram and an outline of the discussion in the session. I'm not saying that Tim did anything wrong, I just wanted to give him another tool that he could use, if he wanted to, in a situation with an unprepared student.
Gannon and also Blog II
Hello all,
On Monday I met with Mike. He had been able to tutor a few more people since we'd last met, and so I decided to spend the session reflecting on his most and least successful sessions.
Although he didn't have a specific "best tutoring session", he said that every successful session he'd had had a similarity. He says that if a student doesn't leave right away once the session has ended, and instead sticks around for a few extra moments exchanging pleasantries, it means the session has gone successfully. Mike said he'd had a session of this sort recently in which a student offered him a Starbucks gift card as thanks for the tutoring. Mike informed the student that the session was already paid for through the student's tuition, and the gift was politely declined.
When I asked Mike about what he thought his least successful session was, he told me that although he'd never had a terrible session, he'd had a session in which he felt as though the student left with little accomplished. Seemingly, the student had brought in this paper not to work on it more, but to have a tutor tell her that it didn't need any more work. Mike tells me that the paper was OK, but lacked focus. However, she didn't want to write much more than she already had - she was set on this paper being her final draft. He felt like there was little he could do to convince her otherwise, so the session ended without much gained. I suggested that for sessions like these, one should try to get the student to realize themselves that their paper needs more work. This can be accomplished through asking the right questions. Does anyone else have any ideas?
On Monday I met with Mike. He had been able to tutor a few more people since we'd last met, and so I decided to spend the session reflecting on his most and least successful sessions.
Although he didn't have a specific "best tutoring session", he said that every successful session he'd had had a similarity. He says that if a student doesn't leave right away once the session has ended, and instead sticks around for a few extra moments exchanging pleasantries, it means the session has gone successfully. Mike said he'd had a session of this sort recently in which a student offered him a Starbucks gift card as thanks for the tutoring. Mike informed the student that the session was already paid for through the student's tuition, and the gift was politely declined.
When I asked Mike about what he thought his least successful session was, he told me that although he'd never had a terrible session, he'd had a session in which he felt as though the student left with little accomplished. Seemingly, the student had brought in this paper not to work on it more, but to have a tutor tell her that it didn't need any more work. Mike tells me that the paper was OK, but lacked focus. However, she didn't want to write much more than she already had - she was set on this paper being her final draft. He felt like there was little he could do to convince her otherwise, so the session ended without much gained. I suggested that for sessions like these, one should try to get the student to realize themselves that their paper needs more work. This can be accomplished through asking the right questions. Does anyone else have any ideas?
Monday, March 8, 2010
Gannon and also Blog
Hello, all!
I met with Jo last week. We talked about her students, work schedule difficulties and how I couldn't remember what we'd gone over the previous week and couldn't think about anything to blog about. She wisely advised that I should take notes. I agreed. I didn't take notes. Whoops!
Anyhow, she told me that although she doesn't really have any questions, she still has some concerns about her tutoring. She worries that her personality might come off too strong or too quirky and her students might not take her seriously because of that. I assured her that that probably would not happen and that in my experience, it's best to create an honest and comfortable environment for the tutee - meaning that being a relaxed version of yourself is important. Most of her concerns have to do with confidence "what-have-yous" and will all solve themselves through seeing more students. She just needs a wee bit more hands-on experience.
I met with Jo last week. We talked about her students, work schedule difficulties and how I couldn't remember what we'd gone over the previous week and couldn't think about anything to blog about. She wisely advised that I should take notes. I agreed. I didn't take notes. Whoops!
Anyhow, she told me that although she doesn't really have any questions, she still has some concerns about her tutoring. She worries that her personality might come off too strong or too quirky and her students might not take her seriously because of that. I assured her that that probably would not happen and that in my experience, it's best to create an honest and comfortable environment for the tutee - meaning that being a relaxed version of yourself is important. Most of her concerns have to do with confidence "what-have-yous" and will all solve themselves through seeing more students. She just needs a wee bit more hands-on experience.
Coco Strikes Again!
Hey all,
Colin and had our third(ish) session today. He doesn't have any weekly students but he's been getting a lot of drop-ins and one-times, especially a lot that haven't been showing up! He did get an ESL student the other day and it sounds like the entire session went really well. He told me that, as things were coming to a close, he asked his student what sorts of things he usually does to revise and edit his papers on his own. Colin gave him some editing tips as a sort of "takeaway" end to the session, mostly things that have helped him in the past that the writer can try to do to improve his own work. He said he's been using this to close out all his sessions and it's sort of become his "signature". I think it's a really great idea, and not only keeps the student thinking outside of the writing center, but helps them learn to improve their personal revision techniques as well and find something that works for them. Has anybody else ever done something like this, or do you have any sort of "signature" tutoring technique that you apply to all your sessions?
Since Colin hasn't been getting a lot of students, we talked about some other general aspects of the Learning Studio, like using Time Trade, the email reminder system, the importance of arriving on time or slightly early (he missed a drop-in session when he arrived late a week ago, which he was pretty bummed about). We spent the rest of the hour getting to know each other a little better, since we sort of skipped all that and dove right into the topic of tutoring styles during our first session.
Colin and had our third(ish) session today. He doesn't have any weekly students but he's been getting a lot of drop-ins and one-times, especially a lot that haven't been showing up! He did get an ESL student the other day and it sounds like the entire session went really well. He told me that, as things were coming to a close, he asked his student what sorts of things he usually does to revise and edit his papers on his own. Colin gave him some editing tips as a sort of "takeaway" end to the session, mostly things that have helped him in the past that the writer can try to do to improve his own work. He said he's been using this to close out all his sessions and it's sort of become his "signature". I think it's a really great idea, and not only keeps the student thinking outside of the writing center, but helps them learn to improve their personal revision techniques as well and find something that works for them. Has anybody else ever done something like this, or do you have any sort of "signature" tutoring technique that you apply to all your sessions?
Since Colin hasn't been getting a lot of students, we talked about some other general aspects of the Learning Studio, like using Time Trade, the email reminder system, the importance of arriving on time or slightly early (he missed a drop-in session when he arrived late a week ago, which he was pretty bummed about). We spent the rest of the hour getting to know each other a little better, since we sort of skipped all that and dove right into the topic of tutoring styles during our first session.
Friday, March 5, 2010
A-game
Hey guys! Today was my third session with Stephen
This week he encountered some minor difficulties with his student. Apparently she likes to complain about the teacher and the class alot. I asked him how he dealt with this and he said he continues to just ask her why she doesn't like the teacher since she's doing well in the class. This lead to a discussion about how we as tutors should handle students who use us as their means to vent about teacher issues. We both decided that it's best try and change the subject as quickly as possible. I told him that you can always tell your student to make their opinions known during the end of semester evaluations because then something may be done about a teacher.
Stephen's student had to write a paper describing an object, more specifically her folder. She claimed to be stuck. After she read her paper out loud, Stephen took the paper from her and asked her to just talk about the folder. He kept asking her questions and the student discovered that she could discuss in her paper how folder matches alot of her other belongings and is meaningful. Stephen said that some students just can't think how they write. By taking the papers away and having them speak, students may realize they know more than what they think. I was pretty happy to hear Stephen say that. We discussed how some students really can't think and write at the same time, especially during brainstorming sessions. Which lead us to the question , Is it ok for the tutor to take notes as the student talksa about their topic? I have found myself doing it in some sessions and Stephen has as well. Something to think about I guess.
This week he encountered some minor difficulties with his student. Apparently she likes to complain about the teacher and the class alot. I asked him how he dealt with this and he said he continues to just ask her why she doesn't like the teacher since she's doing well in the class. This lead to a discussion about how we as tutors should handle students who use us as their means to vent about teacher issues. We both decided that it's best try and change the subject as quickly as possible. I told him that you can always tell your student to make their opinions known during the end of semester evaluations because then something may be done about a teacher.
Stephen's student had to write a paper describing an object, more specifically her folder. She claimed to be stuck. After she read her paper out loud, Stephen took the paper from her and asked her to just talk about the folder. He kept asking her questions and the student discovered that she could discuss in her paper how folder matches alot of her other belongings and is meaningful. Stephen said that some students just can't think how they write. By taking the papers away and having them speak, students may realize they know more than what they think. I was pretty happy to hear Stephen say that. We discussed how some students really can't think and write at the same time, especially during brainstorming sessions. Which lead us to the question , Is it ok for the tutor to take notes as the student talksa about their topic? I have found myself doing it in some sessions and Stephen has as well. Something to think about I guess.
K-Dizzle
Hey Everyone,
I had my third mentor meeting with Kathryn today. We sat on the orange couches and collaborated on her sessions. This week, Kathryn had her first ESL session!! She was nervous, but handled it great. She did express a concern to me - when they were in the tutor training class, they watched videos that encouraged them to overlook sentance structure (if it made sense then it was OK). So, she was a bit confused, however, talked it over with the student to see what she wanted to accomplish during the session. Her student had problems with tenses along with metaphores vs. similies, so they worked on that. I was really happy how Kathryn handled this, and I definately re-enforced her! When I asked her what she could have done differently, she said that looking back at the session, she wishes she had confirmed that using similies were okay to use instead of metaphores.
Other than that, we just talked about tutor training - she was confused about the times, dates, etc.
Have a good weekend,
Kendra
I had my third mentor meeting with Kathryn today. We sat on the orange couches and collaborated on her sessions. This week, Kathryn had her first ESL session!! She was nervous, but handled it great. She did express a concern to me - when they were in the tutor training class, they watched videos that encouraged them to overlook sentance structure (if it made sense then it was OK). So, she was a bit confused, however, talked it over with the student to see what she wanted to accomplish during the session. Her student had problems with tenses along with metaphores vs. similies, so they worked on that. I was really happy how Kathryn handled this, and I definately re-enforced her! When I asked her what she could have done differently, she said that looking back at the session, she wishes she had confirmed that using similies were okay to use instead of metaphores.
Other than that, we just talked about tutor training - she was confused about the times, dates, etc.
Have a good weekend,
Kendra
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Kendra Callari
Today, I had my second mentor meeting with Keenan. We started off by talking about his two weekly sessions – both are going very well. He said that his students are really engaged throughout the whole session. I was really happy to hear how he handled his one weekly student. She comes to the LS after her Monday class. Since most of the assignments are due that day, Keenan goes through the final draft and collaborates with her. I think that this is really beneficial to the student because she is able to hear feedback about her final draft for future essays (where she could add things, etc).
Keenan also had a drop-in this week. She was extremely stressed and didn’t know what the teacher wanted, and didn’t know the topic. Keenan handled this extremely well. He told her to just take a breath and that they will figure it out. They started collaborating and Keenan got her thinking and by the end of the session, she knew her topic. I thought he handled this in a great manner by re-assuring the student and having her think aloud. However, he did share with me a worry. He was afraid that he told her the wrong thing and misguided her. He knows that he is not responsible for the grade, but he couldn’t help but feel guilt. I explained to him that we all sometimes have that – I shared my experiences with him and how I handled it.
Even though Tim is not my mentee, he expressed a concern about how a student came in and just wanted him to revise a paper. I think that Tim handled it as best he could – he told the student that he would be more than happy to sit and collaborate about the paper with him, but explained that we are not here to just revise papers.
Lastly, Keenan is really worried about the tutor training times (he is either working or not here). I told him to talk to Nita. We all remember what happened last semester with tutor training. I’m pretty sure most of us came in on our own, yes that means we didn’t get paid.
Nita said not to do that this semester – your students come first.
That’s all for now!
Kendra
Keenan also had a drop-in this week. She was extremely stressed and didn’t know what the teacher wanted, and didn’t know the topic. Keenan handled this extremely well. He told her to just take a breath and that they will figure it out. They started collaborating and Keenan got her thinking and by the end of the session, she knew her topic. I thought he handled this in a great manner by re-assuring the student and having her think aloud. However, he did share with me a worry. He was afraid that he told her the wrong thing and misguided her. He knows that he is not responsible for the grade, but he couldn’t help but feel guilt. I explained to him that we all sometimes have that – I shared my experiences with him and how I handled it.
Even though Tim is not my mentee, he expressed a concern about how a student came in and just wanted him to revise a paper. I think that Tim handled it as best he could – he told the student that he would be more than happy to sit and collaborate about the paper with him, but explained that we are not here to just revise papers.
Lastly, Keenan is really worried about the tutor training times (he is either working or not here). I told him to talk to Nita. We all remember what happened last semester with tutor training. I’m pretty sure most of us came in on our own, yes that means we didn’t get paid.
Nita said not to do that this semester – your students come first.
That’s all for now!
Kendra
Alex R's latest report
I had another mentor session with Tim today. We talked mostly about what to do when you encounter a difficult student. I used an example of a weekly student that I have. She always comes in and is reluctant to work. The start of every session is her saying, "I'm so tired." Now, I know that it is 9 in the morning and I sympathize. However, I show up in order to help her become a better writer. She shows up too, which would indicate to me that she either cares about improving or getting the grade. So, we work. If she doesn't feel like it, well that's just a shame because I can always find something for her to do. Anyway, now that that rant is over, I told Tim about how I like to try to then create a little bit less than academic feel to the session. It is okay to joke around with students as long as the work gets done. I find that this can sometimes result in a better session with a reluctant student.
Other than that, we didn't really have much to talk about this week. This is due to the fact that rarely any of our students show up. But, because of this we did have a little conversation about how to utilize free time here. We talked about the literature in the back room that can be read for the development of us tutors. There are, when available, also the tutor training sessions that can be attended. That's all for today folks. Perhaps next week will result in more conversations and concerns (and a better blog entry from me).
Other than that, we didn't really have much to talk about this week. This is due to the fact that rarely any of our students show up. But, because of this we did have a little conversation about how to utilize free time here. We talked about the literature in the back room that can be read for the development of us tutors. There are, when available, also the tutor training sessions that can be attended. That's all for today folks. Perhaps next week will result in more conversations and concerns (and a better blog entry from me).
Gannon et Blog
Hello all,
I met with Mike on Monday. We spent the time talking about a few sessions he had recently , one of which he felt had gone very well (the details escape me; I'll write more on his tutoring next week). We also talked about what one should do for a weekly's first session if the weekly is already familiar with the Writing Center. We decided that it would be best to go over the tutor/tutee agreement paper, but also to be careful to not go over too much of what the student already knows about the center.
We also spent a bit of time discussing a problem I'm having with one of my students. The student is ESL and is very aggressive in what he wants to work on to the point where I feel uncomfortable. Mike wisely suggested that if one is faced with a forceful student, one should be direct with displeasure rather than skating around the problem for the sake of politeness.
I have the student today - we shall see how Michael's advice works out.
I met with Mike on Monday. We spent the time talking about a few sessions he had recently , one of which he felt had gone very well (the details escape me; I'll write more on his tutoring next week). We also talked about what one should do for a weekly's first session if the weekly is already familiar with the Writing Center. We decided that it would be best to go over the tutor/tutee agreement paper, but also to be careful to not go over too much of what the student already knows about the center.
We also spent a bit of time discussing a problem I'm having with one of my students. The student is ESL and is very aggressive in what he wants to work on to the point where I feel uncomfortable. Mike wisely suggested that if one is faced with a forceful student, one should be direct with displeasure rather than skating around the problem for the sake of politeness.
I have the student today - we shall see how Michael's advice works out.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Coco's First Post!
Hey, all! Sorry it's taken me so long to get into this "blogging" thing. I'm mentoring Colin this semester and we met up a little later than expected our first week (thus, our discussion went through my blogging hour), then he wasn't able to be here this week.
I'll talk about our first week, though, because our discussion got pretty interesting. Colin was just recently entered into Time Trade and he's pretty eager to start tutoring, but he's barely gotten any students yet. Of course, right after we finished our mentoring hour he got a drop-in, which was pretty exciting! I overheard them from my pod and things seem to be going really well. Sadly, I had to leave for class before their session ended so we didn't get much time to discuss it afterward.
The majority of our mentoring hour was spent talking about his expectations of tutoring. Colin is very motivated to make the minimalist style work for him. After all, it seems minimalist tutoring is (arguably) how students get the most hands-on experience with writing and seem to learn the most. He laid out a couple things that he's trying to do in his sessions so far to help set this mood and contribute to the hands-off tutoring approach. He said he makes a point of not holding a pencil, and tries to use questions and examples to lead his students into discovering their own mistakes. Man, that seemed like such a dream to me!
This is where the interesting part of our discussion came in, because in my experiences with students the past few semesters, I have to be extremely directive (which often goes against my own personal style of tutoring). I find this to be true with drop-ins, one time appointments, and a small handful of my regular students. I have only had about six students (of all types) since I started here who were actually eager to work on their writing with me. They come in with something they want to work on, they correct their own mistakes (with or without me leading and identifying them), and they actively participate with me in a discussion that helps them work through problems or expand their ideas for content.
The rest of the students I've had to work with are significantly less enthusiastic. They want to read through the paper, get my "corrections", and then leave. The majority of them tell me, specifically, that they only want to focus on grammar. I always make sure to spend as much time on grammar as I do on things like content, voice, organization, etc. but so many of them seem very cold to my input on any of those other things. They seem to want me to flat-out tell them what to do, which is the main issue here. I find that when I try to be minimalist with them, they get frustrated and participate significantly less in the session, which just leads to me awkwardly babbling at them for another half an hour.
Colin and I discussed these issues, as well as how important it is to try and adjust your tutoring style for every student's unique needs. I guess that's sort of the conclusion we came to on this issue, that some students learn better when they're instructed, and some learn better when they're gently nudged in the right direction. You really do have to find the correct balance between your own tutoring style and your student's particular learning style.
So what do you guys think? Do you agree/disagree? Can anyone relate to my experiences with apathetic students who come in expecting a teacher instead of a peer tutor, or have I just been getting all the difficult ones? :)
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