Hey all,
Kathryn and I had another mentoring meeting today. We started off the session talking about an article that I was given: “What’s really in Red Bull.” After about 10 minutes of laughing and being grossed out, we began talking about her one student that she had this week. The student was a Drop-In, wanting to brainstorm for her creativity paper for Writing & Rhetoric I. Kathryn said that she had a hard time getting the student to collaborate and open up. For example, she would just write down what Kathryn said without talking about it. Kathryn handled this by trying to get the student thinking and asking questions such as, “What about this makes you creative?” or “How does this inspire you?” I was really happy to hear how she handled this. I encouraged her to ask questions to get the student thinking, because talking about the topic, especially in brainstorm sessions, can help the student jog a memory, etc. Kathryn and I collaborated, agreeing that if this student was a weekly, she would have been more open and Kathryn would have been able to know what questions to ask, and what ways to go about asking them (as well as her writing style, learning, etc.). That was her only student this week, and I am very pleased with her tutoring.
See ya’ll today!
KC
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Hi Kendra,
ReplyDeleteNice post! Kathyrn's handling of this session was really insightful. Engaging students in their writing is so important but sometimes difficult to accomplish. Yes, even in brainstorming where we expect more active discussion, the student can display apathetic behavior. So, it is our task to avoid this if possible by asking leading questions, and giving the student something more to think about independently. Here the convergence of theory, actual practice, and mentoring have helped Kathyrn deal with this situation in a very effective manner. Bravo! What does the rest of the group think?
Steve