So, I went to my first Writing Center observation this week, and I think it was fairly helpful. However, the start of the session was a little awkward to be honest. The tutor I sat with was alright, but I'm not sure if I would want him as my tutor if I needed help with my paper.
When the girl who came in for the tutoring session sat down, the tutor did not introduce himself or ask her name, but was rather straight to the point.The girl unfortunately didn't know what her paper was supposed to be about. When asked for the assignment, she couldn't find her syllabus and couldn't explain what the question was. There may have been a slight language barrier, as I don't believe English was her first language. While she was looking for the essay prompt, the tutor responded with a slight attitude saying that "if you can't explain what it's about I'm sure it's not going to show in your paper anyway," and not to bother looking for it. I was kind of taken aback by this statement, and felt really bad for the girl that was sitting there.
Besides this bold display of attitude, the rest of the session went okay. He read her paper, which ended up being about an art assignment in which she had to respond to a painting that was studied in class. His critique was minimal, there were a few grammatical errors, and she needed to describe the color and composition of the painting better. All in all, he considered it a good response.
She then had a second essay that she wanted him to look over. Thankfully, she had the assignment from her professor for this one. He thought her thesis was concise, and directly answered the question. There were only a few grammatical errors.
After a short session, the tutor could not wait to get out of there, he hopped out of the chair and didn't even say "bye."
Hi, my name is Bianca and I have also been observing in the writing center, I think the highlight of this observation was that even though the tutor sounded like he was having a bad day, the tutee still got what she came for. what was similar to my observation is I notice that so far none of the tutors I observed introduced their self to the tutee, They always get straight to the point. I feel the tutee should've asked for a different tutor since he obviously had an attitude.
ReplyDeleteHi my name is Jessica and I am currently taking ENG220 after reading your blog I must say you had quite an experience. The tutor you observed must have been having a bad day, because I can't see why he/she would be so rude. I believe that as a tutor you must always be pleasant and keep in mind that not everyone is comfortable with asking for help. That tutor should have been reported in my opinion. I will say this the student should have came in more prepared with all of her papers put together so that the session could have gone better. The tutor did in fact help her with her paper and gave advise on how to better the assignment. My first observation was very different the tutor that I got to observe was very friendly and kind. She tutored two students at the same time. The first student needed help with a dialogue he had written on a controversial topic of his choice. At first the tutor read the paper and read the assignment from the professor and started off by commenting on the things she liked first from the paper, this I believed boosted the students confidence and made him feel a bit comfortable. After she commented on a few grammatical errors that was on the paper. The second student had a paper already written but was looking for a feedback on what he has written already. The tutor had prior knowledge on the person that the student wrote about which was very good and showed that she knows about the project as well. This paper just needed some minor "tweaking" but other than that that paper was ok. When the tutor was done with both students she wrapped everything up wished them both a good day and took the time out to sit with me and answer any questions I had about tutoring.
ReplyDeleteHey Brooke, I'm sorry to read that your session didn't do so good in the beginning, but ended well. The tutor seemed like he was in a rush to be somewhere or just didn't want to be their which is not fair to the student who is seeking help on their assignment. I'm glad that the student got the important things corrected in her paper. I see that similar to my sessions the tutor seem to use techniques such as the High Order Concerns (HOC) & Low Order Concerns (LOC)'s in a session. You didn't seem to have any problems their, the tutor dealt with what was important to the student which was good.
ReplyDeleteHello, My name is Karen and I am currently enrolled in a Writing Seminar class in LAGCC this semester. I really enjoyed reading your observation and I feel you wrote in a way that only stated facts instead of having a bias opinion on the tutor (which I feel most other observers would do) and the way you described your observation was very entertaining to read. On my first Tutor observation I also had a tutor who was not as nice as he could have been, he was kind of pushy and spoke back rudely to the student, but at the end also turned it around. I like to think that some people just have bad days, hopefully they have better days next time so they can start and finish well. overall I think your observation was great.
ReplyDeleteHi, my name is Ciriaco Watson and I am currently taking ENG 220. I found your first tutoring observation to be very interesting. I think that the tutor performed a lot of things that should not be done in a session. I think from the beginning it started wrong. He didn't even formally introduce himself and make the student feel comfortable. What he said to the girl about her paper was also very mean and hurtful. I don't think it is wise to disrespect someone your supposed to be helping.I think that he also focused on lower order concerns such as grammatical errors. I am glad to hear that he gave her some sort of praise after saying so many mean thing. that is a plus.
ReplyDeleteI also encountered the same kind of attitude with a tutor that I observed. There was no greeting and he immediately got down to correcting grammatical errors. i think the first impression is a big deal and the tutor should make the student feel comfortable.
Hello Brooke, my name is Brittney and I am taking Professor Rogers ENG 220 at LAGCC. In the beginning it seemed as if the student wasn't organized and the tutor just didn't want to be there. I believe he didn't have to give the student an attitude about not having the paper explaining what the assignment was about but it turns out that toward the end everything ended good. Compared to my experience visiting the writing center, the tutor I had , had a good patience level. As for the tutor not saying bye to the stupid, that is very rude.
ReplyDeleteHello Brooke, my name is Andrea and i am currently taking ENG 220 which means i am also observing tutors at the writing center. I truly enjoyed reading your post because you describe the good and the bad in the writing center. Not everybody is going to get a friendly tutor. Even though it the session didn't have a good start, the ending seem pretty informative and the student got the information she needed for her paper. It did sounded like the tutor did not want to be there but he could be having a bad day but as a tutor he shouldn't have shown that side and be more professional.
ReplyDeleteHello, I am Michelle, a current student in the Teaching Writing class. I think your reaction/commentary on the tutor telling the student to not even bother with attempting to find the task was a necessary observation. I think this is because it allows readers to understand that situations are not always ideal. This, in part is something I have learned in my own observations as well. This experience ties in with the class discussion, which suggests that creating a comfortable space for the student is important. However, the tutor did not do that successfully for the student.
ReplyDeleteHi, my name is Melissa and I have had a similar experience to yours. But first I would like to commend the fact that you were completely honest in saying that the tutor had a slight attitude. I am up to my third tutoring session and I have seen how at the beginning of the session the tutor can give off they would rather be some where else but once they see that the student is nice and dedicated then the secession becomes better.
ReplyDeletehi my name is Wensis Aviles
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your comment i believe that you have all rights to feel discomfort. The way this particular tutor acted with the Student was not friendly or inviting.He was very rude and just seem to get straight to the point like if he had somewhere to be.If that's the case he should of called out that would of been more professional then to just bring unnecessary baggage to work and mistreat students that English is not a first language.When he asked her for the assignment and she misplaced it he was very dismissive and said her work was not going to count because she didn't have her sheet but she explain to him that is was an art assignment and all the sudden its good because he gave her paper a chance and actually read it.This is not what tutor should do the tutor should just read what the student gives them then ask them questions about what is the student uncomfortable with and what they want to fix or improve.
Hey Brooke, my name is Cindi. I understand that this tutor was overall good, but there are a few things he should have worked over. I think the way he reacted to the student not having the assignment was rude, and could have been handled in a more appropriate matter. As Wynee mentioned above, he used High Order Concerns in regards to helping the student further develop her topic.However, there is a fine line between being stern and coming off as plain rude, and hurting someones feeligns by saying that she won't be able to reflect her thoughts on paper.
ReplyDeleteHi, my name is Tiffany Elcock from ENG 220 of the Fall 2014 semester. I have had almost the same experience when it was my first day as well. The tutor that I observed did not introduce herself and went straight into tutoring which to me that wasn't courteous at all. She should have introduced herself so therefore he could always come back to her if anything.
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