My Fourth and Final Tutoring Observation

This is my last tutoring observation and in this session the tutor and the tutee were very familiar with the class in which the tutee had to write his paper for. The paper was for a business class and the tutor once took that exact same class. The tutor started off with asking the student what class is this paper for and what is the topic of the paper about. Once the tutee started to explain that is when we found out that the tutor had taken that class before. She started to read his paper and immediately praised him for a definition that was inserted into his paper. The tutee had a lot of ideas for his paper and he needed help in keeping his paper organized. During this session, the tutor didn't pay any attention to the LOC issues in the tutee paper. She was mostly focused on the students ideas and how she can help him come up with a successful paper. In trying to make his paper full the tutee throw a quote in there but didn't really explain it. The tutor made it to where that idea that he had, she was able to include it in his paper. The tutor had come up with an idea and she used me to explain that concept. This session was also a success because the tutee walked out with a full paper full of ideas.

What To Expect In ENG 220

The first thing to expect in ENG 220 is a lot of reading as well as Writing. Tutoring Writing which is the name of the class that is taught by Professor Justin Rogers-Cooper is a class about the do's and don't of tutoring and we get to experience and use what we learned when we become tutors during the semester. Be prepared to learn about a man named James Moffett. Even though this class has a lot of writing, it is worth it. If you have never been to the Writing Center, I would advise students to go there when it comes to handing in papers for this class. The Professor is really cool when it comes to how he grades and its fair. ENG 220 can be hard if you don't read the material because you will become lost when it comes to the papers that has to be written especially when it comes to the case study that's due at the end of the semester. The life of an ENG 220 student is Reading, Writing and Tutoring.

Third Tutoring Session Observation

This would be my third tutoring observation and out of all the session I believe this is the one that was the most successful. The reason I say this is because the student only came in with an idea on what she wanted to write about and that idea was how can the subway system improve. The tutor told the tutee to brainstorm on some ideas on how the subway system can improve. One way in which the tutee said the subway can be improved is if there were more connection from one train to another. Another suggestion that the tutee came up with was about the rats. For this session, the strategy that the tutor used was collaborative and student-centered tutoring. She also used an idea of James Moffett and that idea was we look at everything in abstract manner when things can be broken down to become more concrete. During this session, unlike my other sessions, the tutor actually included me when it came to helping the student come up with ideas for her paper. This by far is the best session that I have been apart of.

My First Time Being A Tutor

Last week was the first time I had to tutor somebody.. The assignment that we had to tutor them on was about illegal immigrants that pay taxes but they don't receive the benefits of paying taxes to the government. I wasn't really making an connections to the text because I don't know what illegal immigrants go through because I never experienced something like that before. Saying that also I didn't really know much about the topic in detail. I had to tutor two gentlemen, who was not born in the United States. They had LOC issues that had to be addressed in order for me to understand the ideas that they were going for. The first time tutoring was kind of easy because their teacher read their paper and did some corrections and left some comments. Even though I went off of those comments I still was able to make some suggestions on their paper. All in all I really hope I was able to help them with their papers. 

My Second Time Tutoring

This is my second time being a tutor and the topic was they had to write a 1200-1500 word research paper that argues that a work of popular culture such as short story, novel, comic book, advertisement, T.V. show, movie, or song discriminates against a particular group of people. One again I was tutoring 2 students at the time. One student chose the topic of discrimination against sexual orientation and the other student decided to write about weight discrimination. Both of the students had just a page for me to work with but they both had strong thesis. Another thing they both had was a least one source to back up their thesis. The student whose paper is on sexual orientation she used the song "Same Love" by Macklemore and the student whose paper is on weight used the movie "Phat Girlz". I started the session out my introducing myself as well as them introducing themselves to me. The student whose topic was on sexual orientation didn't know any other source to look at so I suggested she use this show called South of Nowhere. The reason I suggested this particular show because it shows just how much people are discriminated against due to their sexuality. She said she has never heard of that show and she is going to take it into consideration. After I told her about another possible source, I switched over to the other student. She told me why she chose the movie "Phat Girlz". After that explanation I asked her where exactly does she want her paper to go. So I switched back over to the other student and asked her the same exact question; what is the route you want your paper to go. After that we all talked about each other's topic and then it was time to leave. Hopefully I was of help to them because they didn't know of any other sources to use for their paper and I was able to give them a suggestion. 

Key To a Succesful Tutoring Session

What do I believe to be the key to a successful tutoring session? Well for one even if a student doesn't walk out of a tutoring session with a complete paper that doesn't really mean the session was unsuccessful now if the student walks out of there still not understanding the assignment they have to do or if they don't have any ideas then that would be an unsuccessful session in my opinion. I believe what can be a successful tutor session is when a student and tutor understand each other. If tutor or the tutee can't understand what the other is talking about then that is an unsuccessful tutor session in my opinion. 

Second Writing Center Observation

My second observation wasn't focused on the low order concerns. This student had a paper that was due that day in less then 2 hours. She had most of the paper done but she had writers block when it came to the third paragraph and the conclusion. The student said she had came to a tutor before and when she was sitting down with this one, she metioned something different then what the tutor before had said. With this student, the student focused on the high order concerns more than the low order concerns. She praised the student for a point she made and then asked her which side was she taking, for or aganist. With this student, there are a lot of high order concerns being focused on and taled about. The tutor is also throwing ideas out on what else she can possible put in the paper. She asked the student how she felt about the subject and then suggested that she can put that in her paper as well. The tutor pointed of the thesis of the paper with ease and gave her ideas on how she can draw up the conclusion. What I felt like that was important was that the tutor didn't tell the student exactly what to write but she her ideas on what to possibly include in the paper

First Writing Center Observation

First I would like to say that visiting the writing center is not what I expected. It actually turned out pretty good. First off the tutor was a nice young lady and had a soft voice. The first thing the tutor asked when the session started was what was the student working on. When the student opened her laptop, I'm guessing a picture of her son or daughter showed up. After that they kind of went to a personal level but then quickly got back on topic. The student told her what she was working on and that she only had a paragraph. The tutor said that was fine and then she read out loud what the student wrote. With this particular student, the tutor had to focus on a lot of low order concerns, like punctuality, grammatical errors, and when certain words should be used. The tutor helped her by giving her two different sheets of paper: one about prepositions and the other about articles. After they went over that, they read the paper again and the tutor asked her what else do you think you can add? They added a little more and the student seemed to be satisfied with what she had.