Dear Mr.
Eisenstadt,
My
name is , and I’m a student in Dr. Justin Rogers-Cooper Seminar in
Teaching Writing class. My major at LaGuardia Community College is Childhood
Education; my future goal is to become an elementary teacher. I took this
course not only because it pertains to my major but, because I also enjoy
writing. I like the fact that while I’m still learning throughout the course
and enhancing my writing skills, I’m also helping and guiding someone else
through there own writing which I admire. Throughout the course there have been
two texts that have helped me as student and tutor which are Tutoring Writing by Donald A. McAndrew
and Thomas J. Reigstad and Active Voice by
James Moffett. These two texts demonstrate different techniques, methods and
strategies to use when it comes to tutoring. Throughout my four observations at
the Writing Center, there were several strategies that I noticed that were
effective such as HOC’s (High Order Concerns) and Collaborative Learning that
was very effective. But I also witnessed LOC’s (Low Order Concerns) that wasn’t
necessary during a tutoring session. I believe that as a tutor you should give
each student you’re very best when you are tutoring. As a tutor you want to make that you’re taking
all of the student concerns into consideration, while still focusing on the
main issues of their paper that can contribute to the student success.
The
best tutoring session I observed was during my fourth observation at the
Writing Center. A girl who was in ENA 101 was preparing to take the CATW Exam.
She came in with an assignment that her professor gave her, which was similar
to how the CATW Exam is. She came into the tutoring session looking nervous but
yet anxious, not knowing what to expect. She brought in a rough draft of her
essay, which her teacher graded and gave back to her. The tutor read the essay,
asked questions to the student, and then gave his feedback. The technique of
Collaborative Learning played a vital role in this tutoring session. The tutor
and writer share equal conversation, in problem solving, and the decision
making” (McAndrew and Reigstad
26). I like how the tutor
asked the student her knowledge about the CATW Exam and whether she knows what the
test requires. He also asked her if she understood what the professor was
asking from her. The tutor didn’t just give his opinion or thoughts without
getting the student input as well. After he read the essay, he told her a
little bit of information about the CATW exam. Since she wasn’t fully aware
about the exam, he saw that she just basically summarized the article which is
not what she’s supposed to do. The
tutor then mentioned something that stood out to me while he was discussing the
CATW Exam to the student, he said that “all of the students that take this test
will have the same summary about the article but what stands out to the person
grading the exam, is seeing how well the student is able to connect the idea of
the article to their argument”. To help the student improve her essay the tutor
also used a method mentioned in the book Tutoring
Writing by Donald A. McAndrew and Thomas J. Reigstad, by Vygotsky explaining
that students have a "level of potential development" where “the
student works with the help of a coach or teacher to move beyond the point from
what they can currently do” (McAndrew and Reigstad 2). I felt that with this
method the tutor really demonstrated to the student not only what to include in
her essay, but showing her how to include more information in her essay. Since
the student also needed help developing her ideas and structuring her essay, the
tutor also focused on HOC’s in this tutoring session for example, developing her
topic sentence and giving examples from the text which she could connect to her
own personal experience that could help develop her essay into a good argument.
The techniques and strategies used in
this tutoring session really influenced the student because she left the
session smiling and actually much more excited about this assignment than when
she first came in the Writing Center. I like how the tutor focused on the
students main concerns such as her HOC’s
(High Order Concerns) and involved Collaborative Learning bringing both of
their opinions as one to help her essay reach its full potential. I agreed with everything that the tutor did
in this tutoring session; he not only helped the student improve her essay but
also built her confidence wanting to return to the Writing Center.
Opposed
to my second tutoring session that I observed in the Writing Center, there were
strategies and methods that the tutor used which, I would not use when tutoring
a student. At my second observation at the Writing Center, a student came in
with a rough draft of an essay that her teacher corrected but she still needed
more help with the essay. She was in an ENG 101 class; with an essay she had to
write about pertaining to her future goals and why she wanted to pursue those
goals. Her body language and face from
the start of the session looked like she didn't want to be bothered at all. The
tutor first read the student essay, along with the teacher’s comments and
proceeded to give her feedback on it. The student didn’t have a thesis
statement that allowed the reader to know what her essay was going to be about,
and her sentences were not structures properly. So the tutor then explained to
the student what she had to include in her essay, but didn’t ask the student if
she understood what she had to do or if she knew how to develop a thesis
statement for her essay. She just mentioned it. The tutor then gave the student
a worksheet to work on for the remaining time of the session to help with her
grammar and spelling throughout her essay, which I felt, was not necessary. The strategy of LOC's (Low Order Concerns) played
a major role in this session, which effected how the student felt throughout
the rest of the tutoring session. According to the book Tutoring
Writing by
Donald A. McAndrew and Thomas J. Reigstad
LOC's (Low Order Concerns) “effect on the writer may be
harmful and adverse to the goals of tutoring” (McAndrew
and Reigstad 17). I felt like the tutor should have focused more
time helping the student develop a good thesis statement and discuss more ideas
and details to add in her essay.
A
solution that I would propose as a tutor in this situation is to help the
student develop her thesis statement. I would ask her what is the message that
she wants the reader to know when they read her essay. From there I would allow
the student to brainstorm and jot down different ideas that she can refer to
that can help develop her thesis statement. Once, we work through her thesis
statement we can then discuss a topic sentence along with supporting details as
to “why” she wants to join the marines, which she said, and “what” developed
her interest to join the marines. I would also get the student feedback as
well, like her thoughts on whether she understands the necessary steps that she
should take in order for this essay to be successful. According to Active Voice by James Moffett “Questions
may be to clarify something puzzling, to corroborate an impression you have, to
see why the author did this or did that at a certain point” (Moffett 20). Based on Moffett, I agree that a question
allows the tutor and student to be in equal participation in the assignment. By
asking questions you as a tutor may understand more why the student wrote a
certain idea in their essay or the reason behind it.
As I
continue my tutoring, I learn something different each time I tutor a student. Through
all of my observations and tutoring sessions that I do, I look forward to using
all of the techniques, strategies, and methods mentioned in the texted Tutoring Writing by Donald A. McAndrew
and Thomas J. Reigstad and Active Voice by
James Moffett as well as class discussions. I realized that though each session
is different, all students are not the same but are unique in their own way to
achieve academically. It is important to be positive but also and patient with each
student that you tutor. At times I’m going to have stronger papers than others;
but helping those papers leave in a better state than when it first met my eyes
is all that matters. I want to motivate the students’ that I tutor to try
writing their best, learning different techniques and methods that will help
them in the future. I want to thank you for allowing students like me, who want
to become future educators experience this. I look forward to working with many
more students, helping them to the best of my ability. Thank you for this
opportunity.
Sincerely,
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