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!"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi Coco,
ReplyDeleteBeing the last couple of 'crunch' weeks, we can expect the amount of drop-ins to really increase. As I mentioned in my response to Alex's post, indeed drop in sessions can go smooth but the real tricky ones occur when students have so many issues with their writing and not enough time to work on most of them.
I have some reservations on Colin's attitude about this semester--no sense of reflection about what was accomplished during the semester! This is simply apathetic and lame! Now, let me be clear that this attitude is on his part and in no way reflects on your mentoring skills or ability. It's just one of those things that really annoys me because I know the quality of work that you have done...
On a better note--Colin's comment about student confidence was right on! Sometimes students don't realize how good their writing is and in such situations we must be honest by telling them that perhaps their writing doesn't need extensive revision. So, actually both of you were right--you for not finding anything wrong with your student's conclusion, and Colin for
offering some suggestions on building this student's confidence. Thanks for all your mentoring this semster and yes, congrats to Colin.
Steve
Coco,
ReplyDeleteI think it was a fantastic idea to have Colin weigh in on your session with the writer who was insecure about her conclusion. We often discuss the sessions where we have too much to say or the many different ways we can approach troubling areas of writing, but an area that has not been explored in depth is the role of the tutor as a cheerleader for their writers. While we can mention "encouraging" and "supporting" their efforts, it takes more than just being positive and friendly sometimes. This is especially tricky when you have to help the writer clearly assess the quality of their work. Again, we often discuss how to dispense difficult feedback delicately, but how do we help a writer identify a piece of their writing that is of superior quality? This is a good area to discuss with the other tutors. Thanks for bringing it up!
In regards to Colin's "reflection", I have to say I am beyond disappointed. I am incensed by Colin's lack of investment in his duties as a tutor over the course of the semester. Regardless of when he is approached in the semester, his position as a tutor is important and serious and his feedback needs to be concise and substantial. We are providing a vital student service and for the tutors to act apathetic and indifferent about their own tutoring philosophy, their writers' progress over the course of the semester, or perspectives on the future of the WC is simply inexcusable. This infuriates me even more when I stop to consider the high quality of your mentoring and investment in his development this semester. I have to echo Steve's reassurances that this has nothing to do with your performance as a mentor; you have demonstrated nothing but consummate professionalism throughout the semester.
I hope that you return as a mentor next semester to pass along your guidance to more tutors in training.
-Brian