Andrea and Asia
1) a list specific questions that you want to be on the
look-out for during your observation,
-
First
explain to me what i am about to read (what is this topic about..)
-
What
is the criteria of the paper (rules, guidelines)
-
What
is the professor looking for (did they give any examples of what they are
looking for)
-
What
kind of class is this for (subjects call for different type of paper analysis)
(2) a
non-evaluative description of what transpired during your observation,
During my field report with Andrea i
noticed that we both took into account the other person major in how to
effectively helped with each others writing process. Taking into account that
Andrea is in a science major i had to talk to her different then how i would
another English major student like myself. I had to ask her more questions;
like what is the topic or experiment; was your hypothesis different/ similar to
the outcome you were expecting. I also asked her who is the teacher and what
are his expectations for the assignment. All of these are important factors in
understanding how to help the student write effectively. I also asked (since
she already work her piece) what would she do different if she were to write it
a second time, did she any mistakes she could have fixed or added additions she
could have put.
(3) preliminary
answers to your questions and brief thoughts how this particular observation
experience can help you consider your
emerging tutoring praxis
I actually had to ask myself
internal questions as well as tap into other information that i knew about the
sciences to help her. Sometimes outside basic knowledge can help the student as
well and also make the tutoring go more effectively. I also suggested to her
outside help from other sciences professors, it could be that she doesn’t
understand the professor or the way he is explaining the assignment.
additional thoughts: after class on Tuesday I started thinking of body language and how body language is apart of how we communicate with each other. It can show being engaged with someone and not paying attention to them at the same time. During our mock trial tutor session I think that both me and Andrea were engaged with each other; neither one of us showed the other that we didn't care what the other was saying or talking about. And then there is the dilemma of awkward silences, If that does come about my only suggestion is a change of scenery. For me a change of scenery helps the creative process...to a certain extent.
additional thoughts: after class on Tuesday I started thinking of body language and how body language is apart of how we communicate with each other. It can show being engaged with someone and not paying attention to them at the same time. During our mock trial tutor session I think that both me and Andrea were engaged with each other; neither one of us showed the other that we didn't care what the other was saying or talking about. And then there is the dilemma of awkward silences, If that does come about my only suggestion is a change of scenery. For me a change of scenery helps the creative process...to a certain extent.
Asia + Andrea,
ReplyDeleteI’m writing to you two together b/c you were partners for this activity.
It sounds like Asia took the role of the tutee/student first and she described her assignment right off the bat. Good stuff. We’ve got to remember that this -- along with hi/hello’s and setting agendaq -- is usually an excellent starting point for tutoring sessions.
Asia’s idea that “she wanted to have the paper look at the female perspective of a major character in the Shakespearian novel, rather than focus on the male leads the professor was always discussing in class” is really cool. As people working in/around writing education, I think we’ve always gotta keep our eyes on the prize, and IDEAS are alway valued! Whenever this kind of unique, outside-the-box thinking pops up in a tutoring session, it’s worth taking a moment to say: “hey, ya know what--you’re doing some great thinking. That’s a great idea.” This can be particularly useful for students who might be having trouble finding an “in” to their assignment (i.e, they haven’t quite found their topic and/or argument).
The next step you took--”generat[ing] some thematic elements [to] explore and find supporting evidence through quotations and passages”--sounds very much like “close reading,” which is a prized practice the English/literature discipline, along with other humanities disciplines. That’s awesome, and it reminds me of our conversation in class last night, namely, how “discipline-specific” each indivdidual assignment, and therefore, tutoring session can be.
Speaking of disciplies, when the two of you switched positions and Andrea assumed the student/tutee role, you took a pretty hard pivot from the humanities to the hard sciences. As Asia noted in her field report, terms like “hypothesis + experiment” begin surfacing which probably wouldn’t ever emerge from a tutoring session centered around an assignment in a Shakespeare-themed course. Similarly, Andrea noted how, as a science major, she “really struggl[ed] with formulating a plan for the student because I was unfamiliar with that particular book/genre.” To Andrea’s point, here, this might be an instance where you encourage a student to set the agend more so than you/they might otherwise. (We should always, I think, be encouraging students to set the agenda, btw.)
Asia, I like what you wrote here: “I had to ask myself internal questions as well as tap into other information that i knew about the sciences [...] basic knowledge can help the student as well and also make the tutoring go more effectively.” You seem to have natural tutoring instincts in terms of meeting people where they already are and, then, moving forward from there. Tutoring writing can be tricky (to say the least) when, as tutors, we don’t have too much familiarity/expertise with either the content (i.e., hard sciences in this case) or the writing style in tha discipline. What we can do, though, is learn from + witth each other and talk about how/why writing functions in particular contexts.
One last note: Asia, you mentioned how a “change of scenery” might benefit tutoring sessions, and I like what you’re thinking here. Doing something like that is Janel’s call, really, but it’s worth bringing up to her at some point: “Janel, can the student + I work outside the Learning Center? Can we just, like, go for a walk around Sutherland and talk through some ideas?” I mean, hey, you never know. When I reflect on my own writing process, sometimes my best ideas come to me when I’m *not* sitting at my keyboard--sometimes they come when I’m just taking a stroll with somebody + talking to them through my earsbuds, chattin through my ideas. I don’t see why a similar approach can’t be adapted to a writing center tutoring session, especially if the goal is to generate some good free-flowing ideas.
All told, good work here. You both “got your feet wet” and began experiencing some of the challenges of tutoring students who are working in disciplines / on assignments that you might not be familiar with. That’s normal and natural.
Z
thanks
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