Today was my last day of tutoring for this semester. :( I am usually always so thrilled for the semester to be ending but when it comes to this peer tutoring class and the experiences I have had tutoring in William Johnston, I'm sad to see it coming to an end. I truly cannot look back on any of my tutoring sessions with anything but positive thoughts. I know there are things I wish I had said or done while in a session but I think I have learned and am continuing to learn from these instances, so I really could not call them regrets.
Sometimes I think of what we all have been doing at the Reading and Writing Centers as a job, we are all "working" as tutors. However, it's hard for me to label it as work because I have enjoyed it so much. I love talking about writing and I like to encourage students that they do have the ability to write well, especially since so many students who come in to get tutored give off the impression that they are not confident in their writing skills. They may need feedback on their ideas, grammar assistance, a push in the right direction or maybe their whole paper needs to be rerouted. No matter what the issue, I find that I enjoy tackling it because I like to see these students learning. I can't help but get invested in their work particularly because I can relate entirely to the confusion, stress and anxiety felt when working on and submitting an assignment.
On a different but related note, I'd like to bring up one of my tutoring sessions today which turned out to be interesting. It was actually pretty funny to me because I had just read Shea's blog post about her red pen issue when I found myself encountering the same problem. I think I would have been a lot more frazzled and completely thrown off if I had not read that post and the comments, so thank you for that! In my session it happened to be an orange pen, which isn't quite as hostile as red but there was no way I was going to let this student put that pen in my hand, no matter how many times she kept pushing it in my direction. I simply told her it would probably be easier for her to decipher the comments later if she wrote them herself. It worked really well and I think it actually helped her to notice her mistakes a lot quicker since she was taking an active part in our session. She's an ESL student and mainly needed help with grammar. During the session I pointed out a word that she had made singular and explained to her why it should be plural, I was then so pleased to notice that when she made the same mistake again she was able to recognize it on her own without me having to say anything. These small yet gratifying moments are what make tutoring worthwhile for me and, looking at the other posts on our blog, it seems like everyone else can relate.
This has been such a hilarious job so far, I think its the only one I've worked for this long and it hasn't been tedious or boring--even when I have to help someone with a medical research paper about tuberculosis. There are few places where your workday is so relaxed and conversational and the work itself is so diverse that you'll likely never see the same thing two times.
ReplyDeleteI think we especially enjoy it because we learn something new everyday at the writing center and hear the voices of a bunch of writers. I feel so lucky on the days before my Tuesday shift when I get e-mails saying that I have appointments with clients from Japan, Palestine, Haiti, Korea, Taiwan, etc. I'm excited with any student because it just feels awesome to be working as a practiced audience, anyone can show up to get help with anything that they'd like to elaborate and I've definitely come across some weird things. This totally beats working in foodservice...
I like how you told her that she could decipher her notes better later if she wrote them herself. Not only is this true, but it's also a really polite way of averting that situation. I know I've come in contact with someone who wants me to write out exactly what I say, and had always felt a bit awkward in those circumstances, but I'm definitely going to keep that in mind for next time!
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, I also can't believe it's over!! :(
I liked the technique you used to get the tutee to edit her own work. I am happy that it turned out to be a success for you. I, luckily, haven't had to deal with a red pen pusher but I think that your explanation to the tutee would be something I would use if I had. Glad the session ended positively.
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