I love writing, but I rarely seek tutoring, so my visit to the Writing Collaboratory seemed like a foreign experience. Since no major essays had been assigned at that point in the semester, I decided to bring the short essay that I was composing for my Theory & Literature class. I hoped that I would have it finished by the time of our appointment. It wasn’t, but this provided us with more to discuss about the essay. After introducing ourselves we dove right into my assignment. I explained the goal of the essay and we planned out what we would focus on during our session: clarity, structure, and citations.
At this point I had only composed a general topic sentence for the opening paragraph, a very long
paragraph, and the transition sentence for a new paragraph. This brought up a discussion about our writing processes. I explained that I begin by writing down my general thoughts and ideas, then start writing, revising as I write and skipping around the document when I develop new ideas. She assured me that she knew a lot of people who have a similar writing process, so that made me feel better about arriving to our appointment with a slightly jumbled word mess on a piece of paper.
We continued to review what I had already written. She read the piece aloud for me, occasionally stopping to point out places in which I could expand the argument or further explain an idea. She also suggested that I re-structure my long paragraph by splitting it into two, as there was an area in which the focus shifted.
After discussing my writing, we decided to talk about my plans for the rest of my essay. This was useful because our collaboration boosted my confidence and motivated me to finish the essay. She was helpful during this session by offering productive criticism when needed, but also stepped aside to let me work through my ideas.
This tutoring session allowed me the opportunity to make connections between the concepts we are learning in Writing Tutor Training to tutoring in the real world, such as taking an interest in the tutee’s writing, praise and constructive criticism, and active listening skills. What really stands out to me about the session is the importance of establishing a comfortable atmosphere in which tutors and tutees can discuss writing. I was nervous about sharing my writing, but this feeling eased a bit during the session, though not by much. Building greater rapport at the beginning of the session might have had a greater impact on my level of anxiety. I’m excited to apply the tutoring strategies that I’ve learned and witnessed so far when I have to do peer-review in my classes this semester. That will serve as a more casual way to approach collaborative writing with others.
