What Tutoring Is...Is Awesome!

Now this is what I was waiting for! Honestly, What Tutoring Is: Models and Strategies is the first thing that I have read for this class that I totally got into. I think that I must be more of a 'practice' girl then a 'theory' girl. I have a feeling that by the time this class is over and I have reread some of the readings about what a WC is and all the historical thoughts and struggles, I will have a better appreciate that information. But right now I am happy to be getting into the actual mechanics of being a consultant.

In this writing I found what will be my motto as a consultant (or at least until I read something even more amazing!). On page 44, at the end of the second paragraph is this statement.
"The questions and comments the tutor makes are at the heart of the success of the tutoring session." For me this means that it is how I conduct the tutoring session that makes it good or not. It won't be the students fault, even if they are ill prepared, resistant, limited, or even misguided as to what the WC is there to help them with, because I am the one in control. I decided what questions to ask and what responses to make that will help the student not only improve the paper that they are working on, but to be better writers themselves.

Another statement made on page 64 in the summary section is also one that I will keep in mind as a consultant. "...be mindful of the uniqueness of each tutorial encounter, keep to the basic situation...and work on a hierarchy of HOCs to LOCs by using the questions and strategies that seem most appropriate." This is telling me to keep in mind that each time I consult that it will be different then those before and those to come. Always start with the the simplest things and go into the harder more difficult issues. And use the suggestions given in the writing (and any others that are read) that I feel will best help that person that I am dealing with at that time. If I prejudge a session as being just like another one I have done, I could miss what is needed and use a procedure that will not be helpful. I could ask the wrong questions and make the incorrect comments, jeopardizing any chance of success for not only the session, but also for the paper on which the student is writing.

The tutoring model at the end of the piece seems like a great guideline to follow. It seems like a great idea to being with determining the voice of the writing first. This is important to know as I start formulating the questions in my mind when we get to the main issues with the paper. If I assume that it is a certain voice when it isn't, that could hinder progress. Having the three main voices broken down and explained as well as examples where each kind might be used, will help me to explain to the student why or why not the voice they have chosen is working. The example of voice/tone tutorial was helpful showing how once the writer is reading their work out loud, they can recognize if it has the appropriate voice or not.

When reading the strategies suggested for helping find a thesis/focus, I noted only one that I thought would be beneficial, and that was the one-sentence summary. The nutshelling and teaching, as well as talk aloud, seem like they would waste too much time. It could be if I saw these being used that I could change my mind. The make a promise and create a headline or bumper sticker seemed too juvenile, and I wonder if used that would make the student feel talked down to. It could be that the bumper sticker one would work with a particular group of students, but I would be very hesitant to experiment to see which one that would be.

The questions suggested in the development tutorial section all seemed that they would be helpful except for the last one where the parts of the writing that have less information are colored gray. It seems that unless there is a way to do this, it could just be confusing to the student. But I could be wrong. Again, would like to see it used to see if it is or not. The one thing I did like in this particular section was the oral composing. The example of this being used on page 48 and 49 seem optimum especially for an ESL student. This way they could just talk and not have to worry about writing AND speaking English all at the same time. If the consultant writes it and later the student, with the ideas that they have just come up with, will have something to reference while revising.

There is much, much more in this handout that I could talk about. I am sure as I continue to take more sessions I will be referencing this work in my journal. In the mean time, I am going to type up Tutoring Model to have with me while consulting, to glance at and reference when needed until I have it all down in my head. Which means I will be carrying around a piece of paper with me for a long, long time.