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?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteIt's good that Stephen is tutoring and recognizing some potential areas where mentor or other WC help can help this process along. The two situations that Stephen found himself have some similarities in finding a solution. As far at the rushed student, again I must emphasize that it must ALWAYS be the STUDENT'S responsibility to not only come prepared to WC sessions but also come to the WC in a timely manner. Even in the best sessions which take advantage of the full time, we usually prioritize according to the student's needs, so how could someone expect even a more experienced tutor to "get the job done quickly?"
I know it can be challenging to work with a confrontational student--again expectations come into play in such situations. If the student remains difficult to work with then you obviously cannot do much--just try to do the best work possible. Sometimes, by getting to the problems of the writing, much of the frustration may subside--here a way into this may be to show them what the problems are instead of telling them that they are wrong. You (all of You) may want to dig out some of your readings from WCTP for more exact information on dealing with such situations. Nice post!
Steve