The readings for this week assert that it is important to establish a “mutually agreeable” agenda between the tutor and the writer at the beginning of a tutoring session. In any session, the writer should be given control (as we discussed last week) but the tutor should also make sure the session goes in a direction that will help the writer learn to evaluate his or her own work; sometimes, the ideas and goals of the tutor and the writer do not agree.
Think about the challenges of balancing your duties as a tutor with the wants of the writer. What do you feel are the most important factors in setting the agenda for a tutoring session and choosing points of focus throughout the session? You can draw on your conversations with tutors from your appointments and interviews to help explain what you have learned about dealing with agenda setting and tutoring challenges. You might also think about some strategies for agenda setting mentioned in the readings, such as having the student read the paper aloud while the tutor takes notes which determine the focus of the session; what types of strategies do you think are strongest/weakest and why?
Sunday, January 31, 2010
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Agenda setting will help us as tutors to "see the forest through the trees," as the ch. 4 reading warned us about. We need to set up what we want to tackle to address in the paper so that we can a) look at the specific 3 things or so in the context of the paper and b)manage our time well and c) prevent the session from dissolving into a meaningless grammar-punctuation revision session.
ReplyDeleteNotes are definitely important. As we discussed last Thursday, note-taking can be nerve-racking to some students, but overall it keeps the session focused and the tutor is able to glance at their notes to get an overall feeling of the objective of the paper. They can then ask questions which inspire the student to come up with solutions to the sketchier parts of their essay.
Also, ensuring that the WCR is completely filled out pretty much sets your physical agenda right there-- it asks what the student wants to focus on in their meeting! The tutor can then take notes on the student's desired focus, maximizing the relevant amount of counseling on their most-needed revision spots.
As long as we don't "hit the student like a mack truck" with our guiding questions from the notes we take, we're effectively setting the agenda and keeping it at a pace to get done with the major issues of the essay!
I definitely agree with Hannah for the most part. Note taking is effective in helping the tutor understand and more importantly, paraphrase the main points/issues in the essay to themselves. As we discussed last week, I am not sure about whether paraphrasing out loud would be effective to me personally, but I do think that it is important for the tutor to paraphrase points/issues to themselves in the notes that they take in an instance in which a student reads their essay out loud.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think another benefit of note-taking is that subconsciously, it keeps one involved with the words and terms presented within the text, which is important. I feel that by not taking notes, the tutor will have to put forth more brain energy to remember what should be addressed/what shouldn't be addressed, and ultimately, this can put an unneeded stress on the tutor, student, and most importantly, the session itself.
However, based on my experience today tutoring (my first appointment was with an ESL student), I do think that note taking wouldn't have been effective. This is simply because I think that ESL students sometimes benefit through constant oral engagement more than they do by having the tutor read their essay to themselves and make/take note of issues they see. At first, I started my session by reading his essay to myself silently (he was not able to speak English very well), but then later in the session I realized that reading it silently to myself didn't really give me much insight as to how to tackle the paper, simply because most of his problems had to do with the grammatical structure of sentences. So I actually went through his essay sentence by sentence with him, reading it out loud. Then, he understood on his own what was wrong with his sentences and why. Then, finally, we were able to go through and rearrange sentences and paragraphs to flow better together, which really brought his essay out of the dark.
I guess what I mean to say is that note-taking is definitely an effective strategy for most, but not for all. Before my experience today, I would have agreed with Hannah wholeheartedly, but I think that in cases like mine today, engaging orally accomplished a lot more than if we had just stuck to notes, outlines, etc.
The first five minutes of a tutoring session is most certainly the most important, I believe, especially when you don't want to come across as just here for punctuation and grammar. That is why, as the article discusses, engaging first off with simple open-ended questions, such as, "How do you feel about your paper thus far?" Open-ended questions are so crucial, especially with students who aren't sure how to even ask questions right away on their paper. If done right, paraphrasing can be so crucial (especially with ESL students) because their meanings of certain aspects on their essays may be completely obscure to how we think. Being verbal with them is completely adequate, as Pritha got to experience, and that's when note taking would be a bit hasty.
ReplyDeleteWhen first engaging with the student, as done in the script-like examples in the article, when the student goes off on their tangents, or are a bit confused with their own intentions in the assignment, that's a good sign for focusing on their fluency, structure and organization. Or even something simple like speed reading through one of their body paragraphs and suggestively asking, "So, in this paragraph, what point were you getting across?" Not being snooty about it, but asking politely, as if you were a little unclear, to understand more of if they, themselves, even understand the essay. In that case, going to the basics, topic sentences, thesis statements, not too many quotes...etc.
I have yet to begin my tutoring sessions, but I feel that a lot of the information suggested throughout the readings is overwhelming. The note taking piece was interesting, and I would think beneficial, but I think I would be incapable of applying it to any of my future sessions. I feel the most important factors in setting the agenda is becoming knowledgeable about the article of writing you are working with. This includes beginning properly with introductions and questions about the writer and their assignment. From there I think the reading aloud will allow the tutor to target and “recognize error patterns” (Young). Possibly even before reading aloud, the writer will inform the tutor of what they want from the session. In this case, I would think that the environment was created to be open and honest; this point was made in the chapter readings. Both writer and tutor have to keep open and honest minds during the session to optimize success.
ReplyDeleteLike previously stated, I find the note taking would be a weak strategy for me because I am unorganized and have sloppy writing tendencies. I do think that “writers as well as tutors must be good listeners” (Chapter 6). A tutor taking notes is contemplating the paper before listening to the entire piece of work. Before contemplation, I think it is appropriate to give the paper all the attention, thus recognizing the work as a whole before dissecting it. I also think note taking will distract the tutee and pressure them. I know I would not appreciate someone noting my work prior to having been introduced to its entirety.
I think an example of a strong strategy for determining focus in a session would include question and answering techniques. Basic conversation can clarify the needs and wants of the writer. Like in Newkirk’s writing, one of the students revised their work by talking. I have yet to experience this strategy myself, but I want to utilize it. I have seen in my observations and own sessions that conversation can accomplish a lot. Needless to say this way might take a lot of time; but, I think it is more effective than quickly identifying issues by note taking.
Revae, I completely agree with what you said about the information conveyed in these readings being overwhelming, and I'm glad you brought it up. I constantly find myself feeling somewhat buried under the suggestions, theory, and methods the writings have thrown at us regarding tutoring.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, however, there are important points the readings continually bring up, and while it's impossible (for me, at least) to remember every little detail and tutoring method contained in our texts, the universal and simple concepts they present are, I think, easier to grasp and utilize. One of these, and one that our readings and all of you above have talked about, is the act of listening. For me, that seems to be key to creating an appropriate and effective agenda. While there will certainly be times when we, the tutors, have to be proactive and help “guide” our tutees in finding the most pivotal concerns in their writings, at the end of the day we're here to serve them. During my interview with an experienced tutor, I asked the question “what is the hardest/most unpleasant part of working in the Writing Center?” He responded that the most difficult times, for him, are having to deal with uninterested, indifferent writers: writers who come to the center unwilling to accept the fact that the Writing Center serves to improve the writer, not the writing. As Young states, “We can't proofread for you, but we'll teach you how to proofread your own paper.” Some students, however, are unwilling to accept that. My interviewee told me that on very rare occasions, he sometimes has really no choice but to submit to the writer's will, and if the writer is stubborn enough (as they apparently have been) to only want the tutor to act as a proofreader, then that is seemingly what has to happen.
I have gotten off topic a little, but the point I mean to make is that I consider “listening” to be the key both to setting an agenda, and to tutoring effectively. We need to listen to the writers, their writings, and their desires. We can certainly act to effect change and to help direct them to the areas of their paper that need to be addressed, but ultimately the focus of tutoring needs to be on them. As for strategies to effectively setting up an agenda, it seems to me that that ultimately depends on the writer. As Pritha has experienced and as Revae has pointed out, writing notes down while the writer reads their work might not be the most effective means of helping them. The strategies we pursue ultimately depend upon our listening to and subsequent understanding of the writers we're working to help.
p.s. I'm really sorry if this post makes no sense. It's 3:15am and I've had a rather long and stressful day.
I'm going to jump on the bandwagon here and say that I, too, am a bit overwhelmed by the immense amount of STUFF presented in the articles, so Ravae, Adam, don't feel too lost. I'm sure others in the class are having a similar issue, and this isn't bad! I think our tutoring styles will develop from which information we personally discriminate as being the most crucial and effective.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, the readings this week and, consequently, the discord they're generating here, were probably the most thought provoking thus far. I found myself agreeing by far the most with Newkirk, who makes it clear that conversation is the most important aspect of the tutoring session. He illustrates this well by providing the ratio of student to teacher word count, and he proves that the student really must be in control of the session for it to be effective. The teacher that "hit the student like a Mack truck" completely dominated the conversation and the agenda was never mutually consented upon, thus rendering the session pretty useless because there was little to no communication. I also noted that he showed examples of students' ideas prompted by a simple, "Yes?" from the teacher. It really hits the point home that sometimes the writer needs a tiny ounce of encouragement to say their ideas out loud.
I think the best way to set an agenda is talking. I think note-taking is a great strategy, as well, but that would come later in the session; rather than an agenda-setting tool, for me it'd probably be more of a vehicle to work towards the goal. I agree with Hannah in that I think having physical notes about the paper will definitely help in keeping the session on track. And the WRC will be the best tools, because they force the writer to think of an agenda before the session even starts and provides the tutor with a jumping off point.
By the way, Pritha, it seems like your first session with an ESL student went well, which is great!
So much of tutoring is situational! I am learning this time and time again. And the ability to adapt or adjust to the writer, the power to create the ideal non-threatening-non-controlling-yet-extremely-supportive environment, is just something that comes with time. So, in regards to which strategies are strong and weak and what the “correct way” is to set an agenda, I think it all depends on the particular paper, the writer, and the discernment of the tutor.
ReplyDeleteMy first tutoring session was Monday afternoon, and it was, well...really bad. The writer came into the WC and was pretty shy and unsure of herself. So I tried (though I could have done more) to make her feel welcome, and we sat down at a table to work. Then––and I hope this NEVER happens again, at least until I am a little more comfortable being a tutor myself––a couple of girls from the Daily Wildcat just happened to drop in to take pictures and observe tutoring sessions. It was for what I presume will be an article in the paper. The writer and I had just sat down to start and were the only session going on, when the girls came over and asked just to take our picture. We consented. It was awkward. What pose does a person make to look tutor-ly? The photographer took what felt like hours to get the right shot. (How many pictures do you need? Goodness!) Anyway, we resumed our session. But one of the journalists stayed behind to observe us, not even having the courtesy to step outside our peripheral vision. She stayed the whole session and proceeded to interview the writer immediately after we finished. How rude!
Why am I sharing all of this? Well, the situation was uncomfortable, for both the writer and me. As a result, I started by getting right down to business––the writer read her paper, I asked what she wanted to work on, I started marking things and making suggestions. Boom. But from the start I neglected to really make the writer feel like she was in a safe, nonjudgemental environment among peers. So, after reading her paper, she was silent and self-conscious the entire time. I don’t think anything could have been more detrimental to our session. I tried to give her control; I asked open-ended questions and did my best to let her lead. But she wouldn’t talk. I wanted to explain that the writing center was a place for collaboration and discussion, that I desired to talk with her about the paper, instead of mark it all up or tell her everything that was wrong and how to fix it. I wanted to explain this, but I couldn’t articulate it at the time. Meanwhile journalist-girl was still breathing down our necks.
At the end, I felt pretty dissatisfied with the limited advice I had given. And the writer seemed slightly more confident in her work, but really eager to leave the WC as soon as she could. (Yikes. I would have too.) As far as setting the agenda, things I did find helpful were taking notes, focusing on the thesis, and getting the writer to summarize her paper (after which she stopped talking). Yet, so much more could have been accomplished had she felt comfortable enough to open up and discuss things with me. It was a bad combination of mismatching expectations and awkwardness. Karena, I apologize if I didn’t focus on your questions enough. I have much more to contribute to the discussion (which I can do in class). However, I just wanted to blog about my experience this week to emphasize that to set the agenda, you must be comfortable with the writer and vice versa. Otherwise the session will be very limited or, at worst, a complete waste of time.
-Ben R.
I think agenda setting is very situational. Every student that comes in has a different learning style and is looking for different kinds of help. However, I do think it can be beneficial for the tutor to take notes during a session. As Pritha mentioned, this can help you, as the tutor, stay more focused and involved in the first five minutes of the session. So, yes, I think that note taking can be a great tool for the tutor to help you remember specific things about the paper that seemed rough or need work. As Ch. 6 (Allyn and Bacon) stated, "the important thing is to be able to refer to specific sections of the paper that need attention and to include your own reactions." I think it's very easy to forget one of your brilliant (or just okay) pieces of advice when you're talking with the student. In that regard, note taking has the ability to make the session more efficient and beneficial for the writer but I do want to stress that note taking is a tool (or strategy as Maitri suggested) not an agenda.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I stress that note taking is only a tool is because, as the other interns have discussed and as found in the Newkirk reading, conversation is the best way to set an agenda. By staying in constant communication with a writer, via talking or the WRC, you are more likely to be clear on the writer's expectations of the session and let the writer know the role you will be playing (as discussed in Ch. 4).
I haven't had a session yet, but I think that conversation and a clear set of goals and expectations are the best way to have an effective session with any writer, no matter their style.