Flying Solo: My First Solo Tutoring Sessions

I was quite excited about Late Nite Writes when Dr. Andersen introduced me to the idea one day in class. The idea of setting up shop in the library with the tutors of the Collab and working on my writing assignments as well as helping others with theirs greatly appealed to me. Sitting at home in the comfort of my bed with my snoring dog at my side isn’t always the most conducive environment to work in. Distractions are everywhere at home, whereas the library at Centenary is a perfect place to get some writing done, especially when I’m surrounded by others who are writing. Not only did Late Nite Writes give me the opportunity to get some end of the semester work done, but it also provided a chance for me to get in my final tutoring session, the one many in our class have been apprehensive about: the solo session. So naturally, I emailed Gracie and told her to “sign me up!”

When I first arrived at Late Nite Writes, I was excited but also nervous. How busy would we be? Would I struggle to find someone to tutor, or would I be bombarded with students needing help to the point where I was overwhelmed?

However, my anxieties were quickly eased and I helped myself to a snack and began working on a project for my ethnic American literature class. I managed to get a lot of work done, but it wasn’t before too long that a student approached me asking me to “look over” her paper.

It was finally time to tutor all on my own. I introduced myself and sat down with her, asking about the assignment and if there were anything in particular she wanted to focus on. This paper had already received some teacher comments and it was in a rough draft stage; the highlighted sections were the ones which needed fixing, though she seemed uncertain exactly what about the highlighted sections she wanted to fix.

I asked if she would like to read it aloud, and she obliged. For this student, grammar was not an issue at all so I was able to really focus on the content of the paper and help her find her voice and express what she was trying to say. I was able to use a non-directive approach; I helped to steer her in the right direction and point out times where perhaps “Hmm, this sentence could use a little more clarity; what were you trying to say here?” or “Do you hear that this transition is a little awkward from a reader’s perspective? Let’s try to find a way to make it sound more smooth.” She almost always seemed to hear it straight away and was able to rework her writing to express her point more confidently and clearly with a little nudging from myself.

Overall, I felt my first solo tutoring session went very well. After we finished, I became all the more excited to tutor in the fall and help students like this one. I can see that there was no reason to be as intimidated by the solo tutoring session as I was; I’ve become confident enough in my abilities and now as a tutor that I feel ready to take on more.

I also managed to help out another student during Late Nite Writes, though this was less of a hands-on tutoring experience than it was guiding them to the resources that help with MLA formatting.

I left Late Nite Writes with more tutoring experience under my belt, a fair amount of my own work load completed, and a feeling of excitement toward hopefully working in the Writing Collab next fall.