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.
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I have definitely used that technique before. I have a weekly student (who I've had two semesters in a row, so we both know his strengths and weaknesses very well) who has an issue with organizing his thoughts and deciding what is and isn't important to include.
ReplyDeleteUsually when he's having this problem, I flip his paper over and we have a friendly discussion about the topic. I ask him to explain things "in his own words" and not think about the paper. As he says things that apply, I point them out and have him summarize them, then one of us writes it down. We spend the rest of the time organizing them. This has helped him a LOT when writing outlines!
Alex,
ReplyDeleteYour advice to Stephen about dealing w/student-teacher dynamics was correct: STAY OUT OF IT! These things do occur more often than we would like, so it is best to just divert attention away from this issue and into the writing (and yes, this often proves difficult to separate). Furthermore, in situations such as this one we often have only one side of the issue--the student's so if we try to sympathize with the student we are immediately at a disadvantage not being in the class. I once had a student who would constantly complain about her class at the beginning of each session and finally after a couple of weeks, I simply repeated what I had told her on our first meeting: if the problem has still not been resolved, it is still your responsibility to resolve it NOT MINE! After that we worked on the writing w/more intensity, although she did manage to occasionally sneak in a couple of snide remarks. Consequently, the following semester, her teacher remembered that I had worked with this student and informed me (and confirmed some of my suspisions), that although the writing was good, this student was often resistant to comments on drafts and suggestions by fellow students for improving her writing (such as in peer review).
Re: Organizing Thoughts--and Coco's comments. Sometimes "talking about writing" benefits the student more than actually working on the writing and of course this can start w/(or help) outlining. I see it as yet another way in which we are student centered--not only working on what assignments a student wants, but also in the matter that is most comfortable and will result in better writing. For students that are more linear and straightforward in their approach, organization may not be much of an issue but for others, they may need some extra or different form of help in their sessions.
*I'm glad to see some of you respond to others blogs. This needs to continue and increase since we learn from each other. Kudos to Coco for this one!
Steve