I was quite anxious during my first tutoring observation session on March 5th, right before Writing Tutor Training. I was surprised when I arrived at the Writing Collaboratory: the appointment was scheduled for 3:15, but the tutee came earlier than expected – closer to 3:00! When I walked in around 3:10, Amanda, the tutor, was already in the middle of the session with him. I awkwardly sat down in a chair by the entrance, listening to the session from a few feet away.
I pulled out my phone to take notes during the session, highlighting the interactions between Amanda and her tutee. The student came to the appointment with his essay completed, so they spent the session discussing higher-order concerns – making sure it would make sense to his readers – and the possible final revisions that he could make before submitting his paper. Amanda advised the tutee to read his writing aloud, telling him that this would help him check for mistakes and gain a greater idea of the flow of his paper. This reinforced what we learned early in Writing Tutor Training. Amanda then read his paper aloud so they could both listen and critique it together. While reading aloud, they both saw ways in which the tutee could improve his writing, specifically by being more specific with his details and more consistent in his writing.
During the session, I thought about the articles that we read for class by Jeff Brooks and Peter Carino regarding minimalist tutoring and directive and non-directive approaches to tutoring. Amanda seemed to use a more directive approach with this tutee, and because of this I learned how I might be able to use a directive approach effectively. She pointed out what was done well in his paper. In this case, the tutee made good points in his paper and effectively used his sources. She did make sure to inform him about the proper presentation of citations in his writing, discussing the need for citations after sentences that are paraphrased.
At the end of the session, Amanda made sure to mention to the tutee that he was welcome to make another appointment with any of the tutors in the Collab. During this session I got to experience an effective tutoring session, but after the observation session I was still a bit anxious about tutoring. Amanda was very helpful when I told her about my hesitance, and she made me feel reassured when she told me about her own experiences during Writing Tutor Training.
