Today is Monday, 04/27/2015. This is a very special day for our ENG 220 class. We are going to experience our first tutoring session in another class. Most of us are excited and nervous at the same time. I  am trying to visualize the session beforehand. I would like to go there with a lot of confidence and enthusiasm. I am planning to start the session by asking some necessary questions about the assignment which will enable me to proceed with next steps. If I get a student with a finished draft I am going to revise it and let her read it along with me. I will ask the writer if the draft has all the major aspects such as a specific thesis, topic sentences, direct or paraphrase of quotations, etc. I am going to ask if the writer is satisfied with the draft or if he/she has any issue with it. I would like to know what is the main point he/she tries to make here or want her/his reader to know.

     I went to the writing center for observation for three times this week. My first two sessions were really good comparatively to today's last session. At the first session, the tutor was very friendly and polite with the student and with me also. He introduced me with the student and started the session. He made eye contact through the entire session. He did not imply his own ideas or words into the writers's writing. I found it really significant that despite the fact that the student was a newcomer to this country and having a great trouble expressing her ideas the tutor remained so calm and patient with her. He did not rush at all. He kept asking questions to her and tried to find more about her ideas. He gave her proper feedback whenever she needed, did not waste time to correct grammar. The student requested for another session, he provided his schedule. I appreciate that he even took a moment to know if I had any questions regarding the session. I learned that if every tutor helps the way he helped it would be very beneficial for foreign students. Asking a lot of questions and patience can really  help overcome the language barrier.
   
      The second session was nice as well. The tutor introduced herself and the student to me. She was friendly but firm. She asked questions to the student and from her previous draft she helped to find her own thesis sentences by herself. She  encouraged her to come up with new ideas and help her to organize the paragraphs into a lined graphic paper. She had a dictionary and work citation book available on the table. She provided proper feedback whenever needed. At the end she told her to come back with the essay if she needs. She suggested that she might need some changes in her writing.

        The third and last session of the week did not seem very successful to me. The tutor seemed tired and irritated from the beginning. He did no care to introduce himself to the two students. He juggled with both writings. One student was pretty done with the essay, just needed help with work citation. It was really interesting to see that the tutor had no idea about certain type of citation style. He looked for here and there for something then brought another elderly person who helped the student with his knowledge. While he was helping the student the tutor turned to the other student. He did not care about the topic of her writing or any ideas. He just kept reading and correcting grammatical errors. He just rushed through the whole essay and did not talk about any new ideas. The other student left at the meantime. The tutor then somehow finished his reading the whole essay and suggested her to correct grammar using a dictionary at home. He did not ask if she had any concerns or different ideas or she needed to come again. He just left.

I learned from the classroom videos that there are various situations which  may arise while tutoring at a writing center. A student might come with a nice writing but not aware of his/her 'plagiarism' mistake. One might be well aware of 'plagiarism' but refuses to admit it or take proper actions. A tutor might face a writer who does not acknowledge his/her mistake, moreover becomes defensive toward the tutor. Although many situations seem very challenging but they can be faced with proper strategies. If a tutor handles the situations in a calm and assuring manner the writer can feel supported and thus he might agree to the tutor's advice. The tutor might clarify his/her expectations from the session at the very beginning and remind the writer of any obligation he/she might have beforehand. Such as, cell phone uses. plagiarism, etc.

       



              Today's video is about 'Plagiarism'. The video shows that a student comes to the writing center who knows nothing about 'Plagiarism'. She did not intend to give credits to anyone in her writing. The tutor explained the consequences of not mentioning the proper source in a writing to her. But the student was upset and defensive. She left the center. I think the tutor could handle the situation differently. She told her that she does not need to change the writing. But, it's not right. if the writer does not change her writing the issue of 'plagiarism' still stays.
           
              Another situation portrays the same issue. But when the writer learns about the problem in her writing she fights back and starts argument about unrelated topics with the tutor.
           
              Both the situations demand special attention. A tutor needs to explain the seriousness of 'Plagiarism' very well. The writer must learn about MLA and all other formats of citing sources.

Blog Questions Part 1

1. 1) Based the Writing Center videos, what makes a tutorial successful and what are we looking for as we begin our observations next week?

I think the first step for a successful tutorial begins with a warm welcome of the writer to the writing center. The helpful and confident tutor assures the writer all help he/she needs. Next week at the time of observation the things that we need to keep in minds are : the conversation between the tutor and the writer and their dialogues. We need to learn from that conversation what specific problem the writer might have. We need to recognize the tutor-writer session if it is editor-journalist model or usurping ownership. We also should look for the clue if the tutor acts as 'cheer-leading' or responding too late.  

2) [time-permitting]: What are the common points between what makes for good 'teaching' and what makes for 'good writing.'