Well, it's been a fun semester. I've learned a lot as both a mentor and a tutor. Today, as a mentor, I had one of the best sessions I've ever had. Tim and I talked a lot about how to tackle difficult sessions. He had a student who came in at the request of her professor because she was told that she basically had to rewrite her entire paper. Not an uncommon thing. However, she came in completely clueless because her professor gave her no suggestions as to what his expectations were other than that he wanted her to see a tutor. Her paper merely had about half of it crossed out. I know. No markings, just huge slashes through paragraphs and even entire pages. So, his session consisted of the two of them trying to make some sense out of this. He did the best he could and told her that she was lacking in transitions between paragraphs. Then he asked how a few paragraphs related to the thesis. When they found that they didn't, he had her explain to him what her intent was with the paragraph. Now, I agree with how he handled this. I even looked at the paper and saw that most of it was completely disjointed. However, after talking about that paper for about thirty or so minutes, we finally came to the conclusion that the problem was the ambiguity of her thesis itself. We did this because he asked specifically how I would've handled the session. So, it was a comparison in style. This was beneficial to both him and me. Also, the other lesson to be learned from this little exercise, it's alright to ask the teacher questions or tell them that they need to be more clear in their criticism. If the teacher thinks that it's alright to just send their students off to work without guidance, the students will rarely ever learn how to improve.
Now, after that whole huge rant, the rest of the session was spent talking about how this mentoring program has benefited him as a tutor (something you should all ask your mentees before you fill out the survey that was sent out). I was pleased to hear that after his initial skepticism wore off, he found it very helpful to have someone to bounce ideas off of and answer questions. It was a reassuring statement for this program. With that said, it was nice to be a part of this and I hope that you all have a wonderful summer. See you in the fall, or Summer depending on if you are working then.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Semester Survey!
Mentors,
Please check your emails for the attached survey. This is extremely important to the program so please complete this and send it back as an e-mail attachment. Yes, this is the same one sent out some time ago only nobody replied!
Steve
Please check your emails for the attached survey. This is extremely important to the program so please complete this and send it back as an e-mail attachment. Yes, this is the same one sent out some time ago only nobody replied!
Steve
End of Semester Thoughts
Hey mentors,
I just want to take this opportunity to thank each and every mentor for doing a splendid job this semester, even though things were slow and you guys always couldn't observe as much as you needed to. As the program continues and becomes more refined, it is your efforts that assure this continuation. I look forward to seeing all of you in the fall for some more mentoring!
Steve
I just want to take this opportunity to thank each and every mentor for doing a splendid job this semester, even though things were slow and you guys always couldn't observe as much as you needed to. As the program continues and becomes more refined, it is your efforts that assure this continuation. I look forward to seeing all of you in the fall for some more mentoring!
Steve
Monday, May 10, 2010
The Final Showdown: Coco and Colin
Bawww, Colin had his last mentor meeting today! And it's his last week working at the Learning Studio...ever! Because he's graduating! That said, he's gotten a lot of last minute drop-ins with final papers over the course of the week. He recounted those for me, and it seems like they all went pretty smoothly. I asked if there was anything that stuck out for him, successes, difficulties, questions, epiphanies, etc. but he just kind of shrugged. That's finals week for ya, I guess.
Since we lacked subject matter, I brought up for him an issue to discuss. I had a student, a drop-in, last week who brought a paper she was not confident about. She went on and on about how her conclusion was "bad" and asked me how she should re-write it, what to take out/put in/change. I thought her conclusion was just fine. I struggled to find any problems with it, as it was well-written, successfully re-capped her points and summed up her paper in a comprehensible manner. I didn't want to try and find something for her to change about it that wasn't there, so I told her I honestly thought it sounded fine the way it was.
I asked Colin how he felt about this, and if he'd ever experienced a session wherein his opinion of the paper's quality greatly differed from the student. He said he hadn't, but that it seemed to him that students who do this do it simply because they don't feel confident about their work. My opinion of her conclusion made her sort of realize that it did do all the things a conclusion is supposed to do. I offered that maybe if she was unhappy with it she should continue to tinker with it until she's satisfied, but that was all I could come up with. Colin pretty much hit the nail on the head when he said it seemed as if she was just looking for re-assurance and a little confidence, like she just needed someone else to tell her it sounded fine.
Anyway, that was what our last meeting was primarily about. Colin mused a little about how he'll miss the Learning Studio and how he was just getting to know it C: If you run into him over the next week, shoot him a quick "Congrats!"
Since we lacked subject matter, I brought up for him an issue to discuss. I had a student, a drop-in, last week who brought a paper she was not confident about. She went on and on about how her conclusion was "bad" and asked me how she should re-write it, what to take out/put in/change. I thought her conclusion was just fine. I struggled to find any problems with it, as it was well-written, successfully re-capped her points and summed up her paper in a comprehensible manner. I didn't want to try and find something for her to change about it that wasn't there, so I told her I honestly thought it sounded fine the way it was.
I asked Colin how he felt about this, and if he'd ever experienced a session wherein his opinion of the paper's quality greatly differed from the student. He said he hadn't, but that it seemed to him that students who do this do it simply because they don't feel confident about their work. My opinion of her conclusion made her sort of realize that it did do all the things a conclusion is supposed to do. I offered that maybe if she was unhappy with it she should continue to tinker with it until she's satisfied, but that was all I could come up with. Colin pretty much hit the nail on the head when he said it seemed as if she was just looking for re-assurance and a little confidence, like she just needed someone else to tell her it sounded fine.
Anyway, that was what our last meeting was primarily about. Colin mused a little about how he'll miss the Learning Studio and how he was just getting to know it C: If you run into him over the next week, shoot him a quick "Congrats!"
Friday, May 7, 2010
The Adventures of Alex and Stephen
Heyyy kids!
Stephen and I had our last mentor meeting of the year since I won't be at work next Friday afternoon because I'm in a dance show.
This week Stephen had a number of drop ins that came in to simply meet their class requirements. We talked about how frustarating it can be to have students who come in at the last minute to make their class requirements. Stephen tries to make the best out of these sessions. He tells his students that there is always something that can be improved with papers. He said most of the papers were sound, he just tried to help the student fine tune small things in the structure.
Since it was our last session we reflected on this semester's mentoring.
He thinks that mentoring sessions are a great way to create a bond with a coworker. He really enjoyed being able to discuss his sessions and hear about my tutor stories and discuss what each of us would do in different situations. We created a list of his weaknesses and strengths. He is a very strong communicator and very good at making students feel comfortable. Sometimes he feels he can be too directive when students seem to not want to participate. I told him that that is very normal and it's sometimes ok and necessary to be directive.
To finish up the session I gave him a tutorial on inspiration 8. I had him help me create a teaching philosphy. He understands why inspiration 8 would be beneficial to some students.
Ok well that's all folks!!!
Stephen and I had our last mentor meeting of the year since I won't be at work next Friday afternoon because I'm in a dance show.
This week Stephen had a number of drop ins that came in to simply meet their class requirements. We talked about how frustarating it can be to have students who come in at the last minute to make their class requirements. Stephen tries to make the best out of these sessions. He tells his students that there is always something that can be improved with papers. He said most of the papers were sound, he just tried to help the student fine tune small things in the structure.
Since it was our last session we reflected on this semester's mentoring.
He thinks that mentoring sessions are a great way to create a bond with a coworker. He really enjoyed being able to discuss his sessions and hear about my tutor stories and discuss what each of us would do in different situations. We created a list of his weaknesses and strengths. He is a very strong communicator and very good at making students feel comfortable. Sometimes he feels he can be too directive when students seem to not want to participate. I told him that that is very normal and it's sometimes ok and necessary to be directive.
To finish up the session I gave him a tutorial on inspiration 8. I had him help me create a teaching philosphy. He understands why inspiration 8 would be beneficial to some students.
Ok well that's all folks!!!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Alex R.'s latest update
Hi all, it's been a few weeks since I've posted anything (Tim has been a little unwell). Today's session went rather well. He had two students today that he was able to tell me about. While doing so, we touched upon the issue of confidence. By this I mean, we as tutors should give our students confidence during a session. Tim was saying that his students kept saying that they were bad writers. I feel that it is our duty as tutors to dissuade them from thinking in this manner. If we let students keep thinking in this manner, they will be hesitant to write later on. Even if they are not ideal writers, we should help them to feel like they should keep writing. After all, the only way to get better is to practice.
The other topic that we talked about was MLA formatting. He and I have had a lot of students coming in with questions about works cited pages and in-text quotations. When in doubt, both of us usually turn to the Owl website or some other publication like it. Although I'm sure that we all do this quite a bit, it is very important to keep in mind that it is okay to seek help from outside sources. I know that I am not the best at explaining every aspect of writing and that I usually refer to the Owl or other tutors around if I am unsure of something. There's nothing wrong with that. I urge everyone to tell their mentees that it is okay to look for help if they are unsure of something. After all, isn't our duty as tutors to help inform our students? How can we do this if we don't even know how to do or explain something?
Well, that's the gist of our session today. As our semester winds down, I hope that all of you are doing fine and not stressing out too much. Keep on doing the great work that I'm sure you are doing, and I'll give one final post next week.
The other topic that we talked about was MLA formatting. He and I have had a lot of students coming in with questions about works cited pages and in-text quotations. When in doubt, both of us usually turn to the Owl website or some other publication like it. Although I'm sure that we all do this quite a bit, it is very important to keep in mind that it is okay to seek help from outside sources. I know that I am not the best at explaining every aspect of writing and that I usually refer to the Owl or other tutors around if I am unsure of something. There's nothing wrong with that. I urge everyone to tell their mentees that it is okay to look for help if they are unsure of something. After all, isn't our duty as tutors to help inform our students? How can we do this if we don't even know how to do or explain something?
Well, that's the gist of our session today. As our semester winds down, I hope that all of you are doing fine and not stressing out too much. Keep on doing the great work that I'm sure you are doing, and I'll give one final post next week.
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