Week 2 Observations

For the second week of observations I was curious to see differences in the tutoring habits. The tutor first introduced me to the student, but I had known her from my previous class last semester. She was excited to see me. We all sat down at a round table and then I observed the tutor read the assignment out loud.
The student was prepared with her article and draft. She was working on a Critical Analysis Paper for her education class. I also realized that she was working on the same assignment that I have now in my other class.

 While I was observing I was also getting help from listening, that I could apply to my paper. The tutor also read the paper out loud and the student heard a mistake she made and noted it. The tutor was very enthusiastic and friendly. She complimented on a specific sentence then asked the student why? So when the student explained, she had more information to write on her paper. The tutor told her to add more examples. In the midst of this, a second student joined the session, so the tutor asked the first student a question to think about and moved over to help the second student.

The second student was very confused, he was preparing for the CATW and needed help writing a paper. He didn't have the actual assignment instructions with him so the tutor was confused. He said he needed a thesis sentence which didn't include an opinion or facts. So the tutor said, "I do not know how that is possible, I have never heard of something like that before." She helped him with what she could about the rest of the paper and told him to come back. After the tutoring session, she asked me if I had any questions for her personally about the process. We went into the office and I asked her a few questions. I want to go to this tutor myself since she was so helpful!

Week 1 Observations

I am a student from LaGuardia Community College studying Childhood Education. For my English 220- Teaching Writing course, we are doing observations of a tutoring session in the Writing Center. For my first week I observed a student who needed help writing a descriptive essay for her Creative Writing class.

What I first noticed was that the Writing Center was large, and had individual cubicles which allowed for privacy for each session. When the students entered the center they were asked to fill out a sheet of basic information so the tutor can get an idea of what the assignment was about. The tutor read the draft of the students work and gave his overall opinion. The assignment said not to use adjectives or pronouns which the student used in her first sentence. The tutor complimented some areas and made corrections by asking the student what she meant. The student told the tutor that he can write on her paper, but he said he wasn't allowed to, so she made them after he verbally said them. The tutor was very understanding and knowledgeable. He explained the corrections step by step, not looking at all to grammar, punctuation, or spelling. He also gave the student examples of what else she can say. I didn't notice too much back and forth conversation.

After going over everything related to the paper, he went over the grammar, punctuation, and spelling. He asked why she thought what she did was correct. Then, he corrected the mistakes while explaining and teaching to her why it was wrong. He gave her examples on the uses of possession (Example: it's and its). He also let her know if she needed a more in depth lesson on grammar that he would gladly help her. She wrote the corrections as he went over everything. He never told her what to what, he just recommended her to expand on her writing.

Overall, this experience observing was very interesting and insightful. I have observed grade school level teaching but never tutoring with someone closer to my age. It was nice seeing how helpful the tutor was, he wasn't judgmental, and was not rushing her. He gave her his full attention and she reacted well to his help. I am looking forward to my second observation.