I wasn’t as anxious coming into my second observation session as I was for the first. I observed Princess, and I was quite excited because she seems quieter and more reserved, like me, and I wanted to see how these qualities help her in her tutoring sessions.
She regularly tutored the student that made the appointment, so I saw an example of what a session might be like with a tutee that you previously built rapport with. As soon as the tutee sat down, he discussed his intentions for the session, and they made their plan. He was working on an abstract for a paper that he was planning to write over the next few weeks. He completed the abstract over the weekend and wanted Princess to review it with him and check it for errors.
At one point they ended up discussing higher-order concerns, such as moving sentences around in the abstract to give it a better flow and clarifying the thesis statement by moving one sentence in particular. The tutee told Princess that he wanted her opinion, and that he would do whatever she thought would be best for his abstract. Instead of telling him what to do, Princess made it very clear that the choice was his to make, and then she offered her thoughts about what she might do and why, not pressuring him to choose to do this because of her direct advisement.
The whole session lasted for about ten minutes. At the end, the student was confident in his work and said that he was totally happy with what they accomplished during their tutoring session. Princess then told him that he is always welcome to make another appointment at the Collab if he needed more help.
What stood out to me in this session was the way that Princess effectively tutored this student. He has a disability and can sometimes become snappy and more protective of his work. After the session, Princess and I discussed how she handles this during an appointment. She told me that tutoring sessions are generally more effective when the tutor exhibits patience and understanding. I also asked her how she usually responds in a situation in which she thinks that a change in the paper might be necessary or more effective. She explained that offering a suggestion is helpful, but it must be clear that the tutee is in charge of his or her writing. Also, she said that the suggestions depend on the severity of the problem (e.g. plagiarism).
Overall, this observation session was effective for me as an observer. It moved quickly, and Princess set an excellent example for me through her tutoring.
