Using their Voice

As tutors, it can be very difficult to engage a writer into an assignment that does not permit them to use their voice. Most of the time, professors assign papers that involve a lot of researching and analytical thinking. It can be difficult to write a paper that requires only facts and quotes without the use of the first person .As a tutor, I would ask the writer to tell me about their experience with a certain assignment. Perhaps, I could even provide a couple of examples of how a topic can relate to them. As a future teacher, I plan to assign students essays that relate to their lives. Unfortunately, tutors do not have the power to assign topics that can interest writers, but at the same time, it is very beneficial for writers to be able to compose strong, analytical essays. Being familiar with the topic and maybe even doing a little bit of research can help give the writer support and be able to complete an assignment successfully. I have been in many situations where I have found myself stuck on writing a piece. Most of the time, I let it sit there and think of ways I can start composing a piece. I have always liked to brainstorm and write my ideas down. If I had a writer who told me that they couldn’t start writing because they weren’t interested, I would have them brainstorm with me and help them create an outline so they can look at once they are ready to write. I always like to tell myself that if it needs to get done, it must get done. There is really no other way around it.

Professor and Student Expectations

I remember there was a day where we had staff tutors talk to professors about the writing center’s objectives/goals. I was happy to see that professors attended this seminar because they need to know what exactly they should expect from tutors. The staff tutors that lead the seminar were really confident and secure when they said that they were not going to correct a writer’s paper heavily focused on grammar. I was curious to see if a professor would comment and say something like, “Well, then what do you guys do then?” But, there was no response that was negative in that aspect. On the contrary, there were more questions on how tutors would approach a writer or how they would help writers write a thesis. Now, I have heard many stories of what students expect from the writing center and sometimes this can lead to disappointment. Writers often come into the writing center thinking that tutors will write on their papers and correct it and off they go! Once they realize that this is not the case, they disengage in the session and feel that they could of just done it on their own. This idea needs to be fought by advertising the writing center more appropriately. The notion of tutors being cruel to a writer’s writing also needs to be stopped. A writing center needs to reach out to the audience that shows that peer tutoring works and that they are there to help the students! 

Group Sessions

At first I was confused on what I was supposed to do when I was to observe a group session. I knew that another tutor was going to be leading the discussion, but I felt confused on how exactly I was suppose to contribute to the session. Well, I did not contribute at all because the other tutor did most of the talking. However, it was very beneficial to observe one session because I would know what to do when I had to lead group work. When it was my turn to lead group work, I was a little nervous because I knew I was going to have more than one writer. I had three writers, and they were all waiting for me to get the conversation going! I was happy because I was able to involve all three individuals. Most importantly, I was able to get them to answer each other’s questions. Since the professor didn’t leave any guidelines, we started to construct a thesis that could work with each individual. By the end of the session, they were really happy with what was done in those fifty minutes. Later in the day, I thought about how my group work differentiated with the one observed. I felt like the one I observed focused a lot on what the tutor had to say rather than the writers. As tutors, we have to be able to let power go and have writers think for themselves. They should have the power to guide the session in a way that is most beneficial to them. Group sessions do work, but it is always best to have a one-on-one session. 

Tutoring Strategies

There were several days, in which I did not have a writer come in. One of those days, I decided to hop on the computer and search tutoring strategies. Of course, I have learned many strategies throughout English 222, but it is always nice to be open to other techniques. However, most of the strategies that I found were similar to the ones we discussed in class. For example, a tutor should be careful on how they approach a writer’s assignment because there could be consequences. For one, the writer can get intimidated and not come back to the writing center. The tutor should be able to establish that mistakes are alright and that they are there to help and not judge. Another important technique that I really take into consideration is when responding to a writer’s work. The tutor needs to be honest when responding and not exaggerating in their response. However, the tutor should also be careful when telling a writer that something is wrong. I always like to say, “ Not quite, but you’re on the right track.” Then, explain to writer why it is wrong and help them improve. There is also another string attached when explaining that something is wrong. The tutor should not over-explain on one particular thing. The session’s focus should be on the student’s thoughts and explanations. Also, the writer should be able to think independently. Writers need to understand that tutors do not know everything. Rather, the tutor needs to use dialogue that helps the writer think own on their own so they can own their paper. Lastly, tutors need to know that it is okay to say no if they do not know an answer to a question. There needs to confidence and trust on both ends in order for a session to work. These are just several techniques to remember!

Dialects

English 222 and my Linguistic 150 class provided me with so much support on understanding language. I had several sessions that involved African-American writers. In my linguistic class, we covered a section on dialects, and I learned how the English dialect of African-Americans is often perceived as of less prestige. It is not that African-Americans do not know how to speak proper English, but it is their dialect of English. Sometimes there can be fear of speaking in public because the person may feel he/she does not speak the Standard American English. I saw this hesitation in two of my sessions. The difference was that I was able to establish comfort during the first ten minutes of the session when the writer told me she used a lot of slang. Thus, the next time we met, we both knew what needed to be worked on, and we were able to push aside this fear. In order to avoid any fear or awkwardness, it would be best if tutors can be informed about what population attends the writing center the most. It always helps to know the background of students just so tutors can be familiar with the language and culture. In this case, English 222 could cover those components. Also, before the tutoring session starts, it would be best if the tutor can ask the writer about their writing history. This can help the tutor have an idea of what to expect and to think about ideal strategies to use with a particular writer.

ELL Students

I have never been a fan of labeling students like schools do. Schools label students with the idea of being able to distinguish who needs more help or special attention. Although the goal is to not have students feel isolated from their peers, it still happens. Similarly, this applies to the writing center. I really did not have the experience of working with ELL students. I only had one student who was Korean, and her english was quite fluent. However, she did not feel comfortable talking to me at first because she thought I wouldn't understand her. Throughout the session, she kept apologizing for her English, and I kept telling her she didn't have to be sorry. Tutors need to be able to establish equality amongst every writer that comes in. I never went to a session thinking of whether or not I would get an ELL student. A tutor needs to show support and comprehension towards the writer and its paper. Perhaps, even start a small conversation on how one isn’t able to say this well or talk about our weaknesses. The tutor and writer need to be at the same level to avoid hierarchy. I know that in all of my sessions, I told them that even as an English major, I struggle to get my ideas out and start a paper.

Grammar

The goal of the writing center has never been focused on editing skills, but rather on establishing a relationship with the writer in order for them to become better writers. However, I think that editing skills are really important because that is what makes a paper flow smoothly. When writers come to the writing center, most of the time they want a tutor to correct their grammar. Many of my sessions were focused on grammaticality, but I was able to incorporate dialogue that involved content as well. At first, I wasn’t sure how to tell writers that my goal was not to check their grammar, but to rather help them think through their paper more thoroughly. After reading several of the articles that we had for homework, I was able to gather and analyze how I could make my tutoring sessions more effective. For the grammatical aspect, I had many writers read and listen to their sentences over and had them tell me if they thought it was unusual. I didn’t want to automatically tell a writer that their sentences were wrong because that could have either frustrated them or they could have just asked me to correct it and move on. Every time there was a chance I could explain why a verb needed to be changed or why a sentence was a run-on, I did. I wanted them to take these skills and use them in the future.