I completed my solo tutoring session during the second-to-last week of the semester, just hours before I helped out with Late Nite Writes. Princess observed my session, and when I arrived at the Writing Collaboratory we discussed tutoring for a few minutes and reviewed the appointment form, so I knew what to expect. When the tutee arrived at the Collab, Princess asked her if she would mind having me tutor her. She kindly agreed to have me help her, and Princess sat down at the table beside us to listen.
We introduced ourselves, and after settling at the table I asked her to walk me through the requirements of her essay. She already knew what she wanted to write about, so we decided to use the session to discuss her ideas for her paper and to create an outline with her key points. She was a very independent writer, so during this session I helped her sort out her ideas, talking about them and how they could be included in her paper. Occasionally she asked me for my opinion, so I offered suggestions and we successfully collaborated on the creation of her outline.
This tutee was easy to work with because of her openness and confidence as a writer. Our session was successful, and she had enough time after creating the outline to begin drafting her introductory paragraph. Time went by fast during this session. After thirty minutes, Princess let us know that the session was over, though it felt like only ten minutes passed. As she was putting her materials back into her backpack, I invited her to come back to the Collab and make another appointment if she wanted help again.
After the tutee left, I discussed the appointment with Princess. She assured me that the session went smoothly. After, she showed me how to record what was accomplished during the session, and how to send a report of the session to the student’s professor.
During my last two tutoring sessions I saw how tutors and tutees can offer one another new insights and knowledge. When I write, I usually write down notes with key points or phrases that I’d like to include, and my composing style is quite choppy. My appointment with this student introduced me to how others create larger outlines to guide their writing. This session appeared to be successful for both the tutee and for me, and we both seemed to walk away from the appointment with a feeling of accomplishment. Though I was fearful of tutoring at the beginning of the semester, I gained confidence over the five tutoring sessions I attended over the course of the semester, and I can’t wait to be able to tutor on my in the future.
