Session 3

I think I finally know what it is to have a good tutor. Last week, I went to the writing center and observed a session that was professional and effective. This specific session involved a tutor and student that had worked together numerous times before. Their level of comfort was apparent in one another and they seemed to get along great. The student was an ESL student who went in to receive help with speech that she was going to be delivering that evening, although it was definitely on short notice I feel that they both got a lot done and the student had made tremendous progress. After the speech was read by the tutor, they immediately engaged in conversation and the tutor began offering suggestions as far as placement and structure went. 

One specific moment in the session that I found to be extremely helpful was when the tutor broke down the structure and tried to get the student to explain what each segment was supposed to represent. The tutor explained things such as the thesis and why a specific order might be favorable until the student really understood it. When the student asked if she should cross what she had written out, the tutor said no and encouraged her to use the ideas that she had but to further explain them. Whenever the student seemed stuck, she would help her out with suggestions but always wanted the tutee to think about what she wanted to say. Once the student and tutor seemed satisfied with the work at hand, the student asked if she could have her grammar looked over. The tutor made it a point to mention that she was not there to "proofread" a few times during the session, although, I think that was mostly for me because she would look to me when she said it. 

But uhm yeah, that was it. It was a nice session to observe.