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.
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Gannon,
ReplyDeleteI like your advice about reviewing the Writer Responsibilities form so as to refresh the writer on the important polices and procedures without taking on an austere approach. Even during first sessions when there is little or no work to review in the session I think it is always vital to use as much of the session time as possible. Free writing (whether or not it is a part of the Diagnostic form) always provides insight to who the writer is. This fist session can often be a bit more casual than later sessions allowing both student and tutor to get to know one another.
I also like that you and Mike are discussing both of your thoughts and questions on sessions. I believe there is a chapter in the book "The Elements of Mentoring" in the Resource Room that touches on mentors giving their mentees insight to their own questions and personal concerns in order to avoid hierarchical relationships.
Look forward to reading more.
-Brian
Gannon,
ReplyDeleteWhat a twist being mentored by your mentee! Agressive students present several problems for the tutor and then being ESL complicates things even further. I suggest that if you encounter a similar situation again then some more reflection is in order. Most likely the student is frustrated because he is ESL and this manifests itself as agressive behavior during the session, especially if all his expectations are not met. Perhaps these are some of the things you can mention to the student--i.e. having realistic expectations when coming to the WC. I would also mention suggesting to this student that he work with another tutor in addition to you for more help on his writing.
Revisiting policies and procedures is something we don't always think about so it's good as a refresher.
Steve