My First Tutoring Observation!

My first tutoring observation was quite interesting. It was a lot of fun and I actually think it was an effective session. The tutee came in with nothing; no outline, no draft, no thesis, nothing. Just a few main ideas (from the passage) highlighted and a sentence that she thought could possibly be the thesis. What she did have though was a little paragraph that she wrote describing what she needed help with, which was creating a body paragraph. She was able to form a strong opening paragraph, but had trouble when it came down to "fleshing out" the rest of her paper. I read the prompt and noticed that she had a number of sentences highlighted that seemed to be main ideas of the essay. I told her that she could use each of those ideas to create new paragraphs, which would be a great start in forming the body of her paper. Next, I decided that she needed to find the thesis of the prompt in order to create her own thesis, and she would be able to use those main ideas for support.

Once we found the thesis of the prompt, it was time for her to create her own thesis, which she struggled with. She tried restating the prompt's thesis in her own words, but ended up pretty much repeating what was written. Instead, I asked her to summarize the entire prompt in one sentence. That sentence that she created then became her thesis. I asked her if she agreed or disagreed with the thesis and from there, I asked her to use that information that she just wrote in order to form her opening paragraph.  

I let her know that the most important part of forming body paragraphs is that there has to be a connection between each paragraph in order to maintain a steady flow. I let her know the importance of transition sentences, in which the concluding sentence of each paragraph should lead to the opening of a new idea and paragraph. I had her create two paragraphs (one for each main idea that she highlighted in the prompt. However, I didn't let her finish one paragraph before hopping to the next, specifically for the purpose of her learning how to create effective transitioning sentences. I wanted to see if she knew how to connect ideas from the previous paragraph with a new paragraph, and she did. Even though it didn't happen right away, I definitely feel like she learned something from our session. I am so glad because although I was excited about tutoring, once she sat down in front of me and had absolutely nothing, I was afraid that I didn't know where to start. Once the words started flowing, so did the ideas and she actually ended up producing a pretty good paper. I was pleased, but I hope next time will be even better!

Sondra Perl

The most important aspect of Sondra Perl's "Understanding Composing" piece would be the idea of "felt sense". Every time we write, we brainstorm first. Through brainstorming, we use our prior knowledge in order to help us start writing. Felt sense ties in with brainstorming because it presents images, words, and even feelings in our minds about whatever it is that we are writing about, and this what helps us know that we are ready to write. What I like about felt sense is that it happens unconsciously. Repeating certain words or phrases is us getting in touch with our felt sense; we are waiting for ideas to emerge about that topic that enables us to continue writing. Free writing and oral composing are also ways to get in touch with our felt sense. Felt sense is such an important part of composing because without it, we really wouldn't be able to write effectively.

The Effectiveness of Moffett's System

Moffett's system of writing is complex, yet simple (in terms of direction). He presents the reader with strategies to help improve writing. There are a number of assignments that ask the writer to focus on the "stream of consciousness", where you literally just sit and write anything that comes to your mind for about 15-20 minutes. Although it is the same concept as "free writing", the difference is that you are trying to follow your thoughts and write them down, regardless of order or keeping it about one topic. Some of the assignments actually have a certain purpose (like focusing on a specific memory or emotion, or even an object) but you must still follow the flow of your thoughts. This process is a lot more intense than it sounds. Imagine having to sit and write about whatever comes to your mind, but nothing comes to your mind! What do you do then?

The key thing to remember as you do these assignments is to focus as much as possible. Moffett often requests that the writer go somewhere where he can be alone and have no distraction. Take deep breaths, relax, close your eyes if you have to. Try to clear your mind of everything else except what you are about to write about (if given a specific topic). Let your mind flow freely and try to capture all of your thoughts on paper.

Moffett's system also involves understanding the connection between oral speech and written speech.

Tutoring Do's and Don'ts

The tutors that I observed were really great, but they had their own strategies for dealing with the "two tutee" policy. The first tutor dealt with each tutee individually, spending about twenty-five minutes with each one. He would ask questions about what the student's paper was about and were there any special requests from the professor. He then read the paper aloud with the student and had his own pen handy (but he said he doesn't use it, which wasn't 100% true). He didn't write whole sentences on the tutee's paper, but would occasionally scratch out a word or circle something and put a question mark next to a word or idea that he didn't understand. He gave the tutee some great suggestions but I somewhat felt as though he was rewriting the paper for her. For example, he would say a certain word or idea and tell her to write it down. What I liked was that he noticed that she was having trouble creating a strong intro paragraph, and her let her know that in order to have a good intro you need to have a purpose. He said, "What do you want the reader to know that they don't already know?" and that really seemed to help her out. The other tutee needed help creating an APA style paper, so he told her to follow the format exactly the way it is. It helped that he was already familiar with writing in APA style. The paper required her to do some research so he also gave her some really helpful ways to do research. I enjoyed the second tutor's approach a lot more. He actually alternates back and forth between both students, and he does it very quickly without it feeling rushed, and very efficiently.

Some of the do's and don'ts I noticed were:

Do's

• Having a great personality! It made the tutees feel comfortable.

• It helps when the tutor is knowledgeable on what the tutees are writing about. I'm not saying that a tutor is supposed to know everything but it makes the session that much more effective when it is a topic that the tutor is familiar with.
• Being patient. A student is not always going to understand a point the tutor is trying to make, but the tutor has to be patient and allow the tutee to grasp the concept. 

Don'ts

• Bringing a pen to the session! It makes the tutor automatically want to use it and they're not supposed to.
• Giving the tutee the answers instead of letting them figure it out for themselves.
• Being rude about not understanding something that the tutee wrote or said. For example, after the tutor read over the tutee's paper, he didn't understand a certain sentence and just blurted out, "what??!!" The tutee looked so uncomfortable.