1) The miscommunication
my tutoring session with the tutor actually did not got go as planned...but i learned more. I planned to meet him at his 4 o'clock session but because i was on campus early then anticipated i just went to the learning center to do my won personal work. I ran into the tutor and made sure he knew what i was here for and he told me he had a session for 3:30 and 4. So i casually chose my seat next to where he was going to be tutoring. I did not here everything that was said in that 30 min session between him and the student but i could tell there was some confusion and frustration . When she finally left i asked the tutor what was the problem that she came in for. This was an intentional student who wanted a more in depth information to help with her paper about the 3 branches of government. She came for structure of the paper but they couldn't get to that part due to the information she was lacking ( i learned there are some things that , when asked a question, you really don't know the answer for and there for).
2) The no-show
when it came to our actual session the tutee never came so this opened up the floor for questions and dialogue between us. I asked him what he typically has problems with and he said the major factor is the language barrier, and i told him some of my ways and ideas on how to over come those obstacles. I heard of translating conversations back and forth through your phone so those of another language can understand, he said that can help. I also asked him since sessions are typically 30 min how much can be done in that short window span and he said if it is just and editing job a lot can be done, he also informed my that In the learning center they are allowed to mark a students paper if that is what they want done. He also told me that sometimes students try to get over on them and ask if they would do the rewrite for them saying "isn't that what you do" and he said that you have to be stern with them. Even though we are all around the same age or older this is still our job and we don't get paid for that kind of "help". There was also another instance where a student he was tutoring asked if he could help out his friend to on the side on her paper, but he had to remind him that if the tutee would sent up an appointment he would gladly help. He was basically telling me there is a line of professionalism when helping the students. That a writing tutor can only help but so much at the end of the day.
3) Third times the charm
Lastly he had a 4:30 appointment that walked in and who needed a read through and edit of a paper she wrote for a psych class involving suicide rates and methods of particular age groups. She didn't need much correcting as to lengthening the paper. Adding more details of her own to support the information she found, context. The tutor even asked me for my opinion on any suggested she could use for the paper. There body language was facing towards each other, they were both engaged in the process and she asked a lot of questions. and she brought in a hard copy of the paper for which to edit from (most times students bring either their laptops or ipads for which to work from). This session was very successful. He taught me that this is the STUDENTS session so don't over power them , even if they may not even know what kind of help they need. Work with them.
Overview: Out of this whole experience i can relate it more to Chapter 3 of the Bedford for Writing Tutors. The tutor went through all the steps especially with "giving the students control over the paper" because after all it is there paper not yours and their voice should resonate through that, which also implies to ESL writers about "Avoiding Appropriation" "the more control the tutor, teacher, or editor has over the writer's text, the greater is the likelihood of appropriation" (pg, 54). Also structure is good when tutoring, kind of like having a lesson plan. Started off with an objective that the Tutee wants to go over will help with the flow of conversation and also help control the amount of time you'll have together. The way Chp 3 describes how a tutoring session goes is almost like a partner ship and that was what i had seen in the 3rd session with the Tutor.
Asia,
ReplyDeleteWe talked about this experience during class yesterday evening, but I wanted to offer a couple of thoughts + requests.
Thought: overall, I’m glad you took this golden tutoring principle away with you, which this particular tutor seems to value: “This session was very successful. He taught me that this is the STUDENTS session so don't over power them , even if they may not even know what kind of help they need. Work with them.” Yep, 100%.
Requests:
1. I’d like to see you make some connections to our course readings in your field reports. Can you create a lightly revised version of this? Your reference to working with international students + negotiating language barriers can be seamlessly connected with some of our assigned CHs in ESL Writers -- e.g., appropriating the text, looking at texts holistically, etc.
2. Before you click publish/submit, I’d like you to give your posts a quick read-through. It looks like you trailed off a bit here without completing your thought, and I definitely want to get all of your thoughts: “She came for structure of the paper but they couldn't get to that part due to the information she was lacking ( i learned there are some things that , when asked a question, you really don't know the answer for and there for).”
3. Lastly, please don’t forget to give pseudonyms (i.e., fake names) to conceal people’s identity. You can do that pretty easily by going to Blogger, opening up this post, then giving the names a quick edit.
Z