Jacqueline Cavazos
English 12D

I remember when I first started working in the Writing Center, it was important that we called ourselves a “Writing Assistant” and not a “tutor” or “editor.”  Since then, I probably call myself a tutor more than a writing assistant. I think that this is because people often recognize the word “tutor” more than they do a “writing assistant.” When friends and family would ask me what I do for work, telling them that I was a tutor made more sense to them. In this article that I found called, Defining Ourselves: Do we really want to use the Word Tutor? By Lex Runciman, the word “tutor” is analyzed in the writing center. The author makes the claim that using the word tutor isn’t effective in the Writing Center, as we are peers among the students. She states that the employees of a writing center are much more than just a tutor. However, using the word tutor isn’t taboo either, because we are tutors. I found this article to be interesting, but the author isn’t really effective in getting her point across. I feel that as writing assistants we are also writing tutors as well.

http://casebuilder.rhet.ualr.edu/wcrp/publications/wcj/wcj11.1/WCJ11.1_runciman.pdf

Jacqueline Cavazos
English 12D

In the Writing Center, we often come across students from various cultures and backgrounds. Some of them are learning English for the first time, while others are taking classes to get a degree. In my experience working at the Writing Center, I have had to opportunity of working with students who were Chinese, Indian, and Mexican to name a few. Working with students of various backgrounds helps you to become more culturally aware of the population that we’re helping. I enjoy working with these students a lot, as they always have experiences to share. In a way, I get to learn something about them and their culture through tutoring them. One student that I worked with a lot last year in 2015 was from India. She had only been living in the United States for 3 years, and was about 19 years old. I was amazed by the work she was doing, her writing and reading skills were excellent! Working with her was a privilege because she would share stories with me, of what she did when she lived in India.  Relating this to an article I found titled Validating Cultural Difference in the Writing Center, by Greg Lyons, we see how important it is to be aware of culture in the Writing Center, and to notice it. Taking an Intercultural Communication class this semester has also opened my eyes up to this more in life. Culture is an important part of our identities, and it’s good to acknowledge ours, and others as well.

http://casebuilder.rhet.ualr.edu/wcrp/publications/wcj/wcj12.2/WCJ12.2_Lyons.pdf  

Jacqueline Cavazos

English 12D

 

I read this article titled Tutors and Computers: an Easy Alliance, by Janice Neuleib and Maurice Sharton. This article reminded me about how our own Writing Center has become more technologically advanced. I think it’s great how we have created the Writing Center Online website as a way to sign in, instead of using paper like we did previously. This article was all about advancing Writing Centers, and how computers can be of aid to tutors. Another thing that we added to Writing Center this semester was being able to offer online tutoring. I think that having online tutoring as an option to students is wonderful. Students have busy schedules, and may find it hard to make an appointment at the Writing Center. Through online tutoring, we are able to let students get help when they need help. I think that the Writing Center improved immensely this semester in the technological department. As this article suggested, the more we technology that writing centers incorporate into tutoring, the better we can assist students.

http://casebuilder.rhet.ualr.edu/wcrp/publications/wcj/wcj11.1/WCJ11.1_Neuleib_Scharton.pdf

Jacqueline Cavazos
English 12D

Learning From the Students that we can't Help

This article titled, Apprenticed to Failure: Learning from the Student’s we can’t Help, by Steve Sherwood was all about learning and growing as a tutor. Sometimes in the Writing Center we will have a student come in that we truly cannot help. In these situations, we don’t want to the student to leave with a negative view of the Writing Center, but rather we want them to know that there may be other places where they can get help. We want to direct students to all the different types of resources that we have on campus to best fit their need.  In another situation, maybe we weren’t the best tutor to help the student. In this case, we can always refer the student to another tutor. That’s why the Writing Center employs so many tutors, because we all have different experiences and knowledge that can help the right student. In the past, I’ve had students come in who will specifically ask for a certain tutor to help them. It doesn’t mean that they don’t like us, it just means that they prefer a certain tutor’s teaching style. This article was definitely a good read, and just because we can’t always help a student it doesn’t mean that we did something wrong.

Tips for Tutors and Students

There are many tips and tricks tutors and students can use in order to create a good environment, and successful tutoring session. Some things students receiving tutoring can do are, provide more time on task, increased opportunities to read and immediate feedback. The more time spent on task, the less time for distractions. The student: Allows for immediate, positive and corrective feedback to help the learner stay on track and not repeat errors. Can increase reading performance. Can improve motivation and decrease frustration. Enhances interpersonal skills as a bond is established with the tutor. Allows for individual monitoring of progress to ensure that learning is taking place. If the student has a good bond with the tutor, and allows for positive and corrective feedback, more progress can be made during a session. There also many tricks tutors can use. A tutor can: Establish important skills such as patience, trustworthiness and responsibility. Provide an opportunity for community service. Enhance interpersonal skills. Increase the tutor's own reading performance as a result of tutoring. It’s important that the tutor is friendly with the student, but they also need to display qualities that will benefit the student in the long run. Tutors should show other qualities that make the student ready to learn, such as being positive, patient, attentive, precise, mindful, diligent, innovative, focused. Being on time is also extremely important, as is being committed and results-oriented. Tutors are well aware that professionalism is key, but conveying a great attitude to ensure that the student is comfortable and eager to learn is crucial as well.

                                                       Works Cited

"Tips for Reading Tutors." Tips for Reading Tutors. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2016.                                               

The Difference Between a SI and a Drop-In Tutor

            This past week I was working both as a supplemental instructor and as a drop-in tutor. During the week I found several differences between the two positions. As a supplemental instructor it is easier to help students that come to my study sessions because I know exactly what the professor wants from her students. I attend the same class as the students and listen to the same lectures. I also took the class with the instructor last semester so I have experienced the class from their perspective before. On the other hand, working as a drop-in tutor is a bit more challenging when it comes to helping students with their assignment. Most of the time students who drop in are not in the same class that I work in. Therefore, I do not know what the teacher expects unless the student tells me. This makes drop-in tutoring more challenging because if a student does not come in with their prompt then they have to briefly explain to me what is needed for their assignment; which can lead to the student leaving out important information. It is also difficult when students have to write papers on a specific book that I have not read before. However, just because I have not read the same book as the student does not mean I am completely unable to help them. As a drop in tutor there are other ways to help students without knowing all of the material for a specific English class. Things like working on grammar, thesis and sentence development, and paragraph structuring are some of the things you can focus on as a drop-in tutor. All in all, when a student wants help on an assignment for a specific class they can benefit most when directed to an SI that works in the same class.

Pre-Writing

As a supplemental instructor for English 1A the instructor allows her students 15 minutes of pre-writing before their in class essays. This allows the students to see the prompt and start brainstorming ideas for their essay. Every student should pre-write before writing any kind of essay so that their thoughts are organized. For the students that come into my study session who need assistance on starting an essay, I always encourage them to pre-write. Next I explain to the student(s) some helpful strategies that I read about in The Longman Guide to Peer Tutoring. One of the strategies I found that most students like is, “Clustering: a visual representation of your thoughts on the topic, usually starting with a single word that invokes word associations” (Gillespie and Lerner, 15). This type of pre-writing is usually a bit messy and tends to look like a web of circles and words. Another strategy a lot of students found to be helpful was, “Outlining: creating an outline can be particularly useful if you feel a strong loss of control—you have lots and lots to say, but need to figure out how you will present that material. (Gillespie and Lerner, 16). There are different ways to arrange an outline but most people start with their thesis, then their body paragraphs, and lastly their conclusion. Each body paragraph should be based on one topic that supports the thesis. All things considered, there are many different ways to pre-write but I have found that these strategies are the most helpful.

Works Cited:

Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Longman Guide to Peer Tutoring. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008. Print.