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.
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.
I like the fact that the tutor complimented the work but also made corrections on the paper. Every paper needs corrections even if you think it does not. The fact that the tutor asked many questions is also a great thing. When the tutor frequently asks questions you know that your paper is going somewhere and you will be composing a great paper. The tutor helping the student with grammar and suggesting examples is very helpful to every student.
ReplyDeleteSounds like he did a good job!