September. 23, 2014
In my final observation at the Writing Center, a girl named Elizabeth came in also preparing to take the CATW Exam from a ENA 101 class. Her english wasn't good, because spanish is her first language but she came in with a positive vibe ready and willing to get help with her writing. She was given a article to read and summarize, using this assignment to practice for the CATW Exam. Even though this student was also in the same class as the last student from my observation, the professor was asking for different things from there assignment that helped them to get familiarized with the test.
I think that Elizabeth's professor gave her this assignment to practice as if she was taking the actual CATW Exam. As I seen all the tutors do throughout my observations, the tutor firstly read the assignment given and the article as well. He then discussed to the student how the CATW Exam is graded, showing her the rubric and everything that she had to do in order to get the full points on the test. The tutor mentioned something that stood out to me while he was discussing the CATW Exam to Elizabeth, he said that all of the students that take this test will have the same summary about the article but what stands out to the person grading the exam, is seeing how well the student is able to connect the idea of the article to their argument. I thought that was very important thought for students to have in mind when taking this test. The tutor also emphasized, that developing a good thesis statement about the main idea is important. It not only lets the reader know that you understand what you've read but it can also defend your thesis with examples. Elizabeth took a few quotes from the article mentioning them in her essay, but not explaining her reasons behind the quotes. The tutor explained how valuable it was to support your points with reasons behind it. Even if it maybe including personal examples.
In this tutoring session I noticed a technique used from the book Tutoring Writing by: Donald A. McAndrew about language and learning. According to McAndrew Vygotsky explains that students have a "level of potential development" where they work with the help of a coach or teacher to move beyond the point from what they can currently do. I felt that what McAndrew mentioned in his book really demonstrated what the tutor said and showed Elizabeth not only in this essay for the test but for future purposes.
The tutor helped Elizabeth develop her ideas not only to develop her thesis statement but the steps to having her essay stand out from all the other students taking this test. Even though English is not her first language and she has a difficult time with her grammar in English, I like how the tutor didn't solely go over grammar and spelling with her. He concentrated on helping her gather as much information about her essay knowing to support her ideas with explanations.
Out of the four observations that I have visited, this was the best one that I saw and really admired how the student left the Writing Center feeling so much more confident about her writing. For a tutor it must be a good feeling when you know you have helped someone. Thumbs up!
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Third Tutoring Observation
September. 22, 2014
In my third observation in the Writing Center, a student named Edward came in who was in a ENA 101 class preparing to take the CATW Exam. His professor gave him a article to read and he had to discuss the main idea of the article but also give examples to explain his point with his opinion. Before the tutor even read the assignment, Edward told the tutor that he felt like his writing was weak. But the tutor said that he wanted to read the essay first and then decide what he needed to work on.
After the tutor read the assignment and the essay he mentioned to Edward that he did a good job developing the main idea of the article but that he shouldn't just give information from the article but give examples to support his argument as well. According to the text Tutoring Writing by: Donald A. McAndrew, I saw the use of "Cheerleading" taking place in this tutoring session. I like the fact that even though the tutor complimented Edward on his work. It wasn't false praise but positive comments about his work though still telling him what he needed to work on. According to the text Tutoring Writing by: Donald A. McAndrew writers need honest feedback and I felt like the tutor did that. The student seemed very open minded and took the tutors comments very well. I saw Edward writing down notes for himself to refer back to when he was going to finish his essay. The tutor then gave examples of the many ways that he could include evidence in his essay, to show that he understands what he's reading such as quotes from the text. I like the interaction that the tutor had with the student explaining what he should include in his essay but also asking him questions to make sure he understood what he was doing.
Throughout the observations that I've watched, I saw tutors tell students what to put in there essay but not tell them why or how. Such as giving examples or explain so the student so they understand the purpose. The tutor also discussed with Edward the ways that he could incorporate experiences from his life to connect his points in his writing. Edward asked the tutor if he needed help with his grammar and spell check but the tutor said that it wasn't a major issue in his essay. The tutor emphasized that he should be more concerned with developing the main ideas of the article showing his reader that he understands the text with examples to support them.
The tutor really helped Edward, not only understand what he needed to improve in his essay but how to support his knowledge of the reading by giving examples which shows what he understands from the article even when he takes the CATW Exam.
In my third observation in the Writing Center, a student named Edward came in who was in a ENA 101 class preparing to take the CATW Exam. His professor gave him a article to read and he had to discuss the main idea of the article but also give examples to explain his point with his opinion. Before the tutor even read the assignment, Edward told the tutor that he felt like his writing was weak. But the tutor said that he wanted to read the essay first and then decide what he needed to work on.
After the tutor read the assignment and the essay he mentioned to Edward that he did a good job developing the main idea of the article but that he shouldn't just give information from the article but give examples to support his argument as well. According to the text Tutoring Writing by: Donald A. McAndrew, I saw the use of "Cheerleading" taking place in this tutoring session. I like the fact that even though the tutor complimented Edward on his work. It wasn't false praise but positive comments about his work though still telling him what he needed to work on. According to the text Tutoring Writing by: Donald A. McAndrew writers need honest feedback and I felt like the tutor did that. The student seemed very open minded and took the tutors comments very well. I saw Edward writing down notes for himself to refer back to when he was going to finish his essay. The tutor then gave examples of the many ways that he could include evidence in his essay, to show that he understands what he's reading such as quotes from the text. I like the interaction that the tutor had with the student explaining what he should include in his essay but also asking him questions to make sure he understood what he was doing.
Throughout the observations that I've watched, I saw tutors tell students what to put in there essay but not tell them why or how. Such as giving examples or explain so the student so they understand the purpose. The tutor also discussed with Edward the ways that he could incorporate experiences from his life to connect his points in his writing. Edward asked the tutor if he needed help with his grammar and spell check but the tutor said that it wasn't a major issue in his essay. The tutor emphasized that he should be more concerned with developing the main ideas of the article showing his reader that he understands the text with examples to support them.
The tutor really helped Edward, not only understand what he needed to improve in his essay but how to support his knowledge of the reading by giving examples which shows what he understands from the article even when he takes the CATW Exam.
Second Tutoring Observation
September. 18, 2014
In my second tutoring observation session at the Writing Center, it was very different from the first visit. A student came in who was also in ENG 101. She was given a essay assignment that she had to write about herself regarding her goals in life. Right from the beginning, I felt like the student didn't want to be there. Her body language and face just looked like she didn't want to be bothered. It seems like she just came in the Writing Center because it was a requirement from her professor.
The tutor firstly, took a look at the assignment that the teacher gave the student. The tutor then read the student's draft that her teacher corrected. Then the tutor discussed what she needed to include in her essay based on the comments that her professor wrote. After the tutor read the essay she explained to the student that she had to be more specific in getting her point across to the reader. She mentioned, that she should include more information about her life, why she wanted to join the navy and what were her long term goals. After that the tutor discussed the use of grammar in the essay, they went over when to use commas and conjunctions which I thought were not the main problems in the essay. I think that the student needed help developing her details about why she wanted to join the navy such as the reason and purpose. The tutor then went and got several worksheets on grammar usage when writing that she went over with student. The student looked bored like she wanted to leave the session. After the tutor went over the worksheets with the student she then had her practice some examples that they did together.
Like we discussed in class of LOC's (Low Order Concerns), this tutoring session was an example of that. This session was based on a teacher-centered tutoring. A portion of the session was based on telling the student what to include in her essay such as details and the majority of the session was based on grammar usage.
The tutor was more concerned with spelling, grammar, and word structure with the student essay rather than developing main points in the essay that could have helped develop a thesis statement.
In my second tutoring observation session at the Writing Center, it was very different from the first visit. A student came in who was also in ENG 101. She was given a essay assignment that she had to write about herself regarding her goals in life. Right from the beginning, I felt like the student didn't want to be there. Her body language and face just looked like she didn't want to be bothered. It seems like she just came in the Writing Center because it was a requirement from her professor.
The tutor firstly, took a look at the assignment that the teacher gave the student. The tutor then read the student's draft that her teacher corrected. Then the tutor discussed what she needed to include in her essay based on the comments that her professor wrote. After the tutor read the essay she explained to the student that she had to be more specific in getting her point across to the reader. She mentioned, that she should include more information about her life, why she wanted to join the navy and what were her long term goals. After that the tutor discussed the use of grammar in the essay, they went over when to use commas and conjunctions which I thought were not the main problems in the essay. I think that the student needed help developing her details about why she wanted to join the navy such as the reason and purpose. The tutor then went and got several worksheets on grammar usage when writing that she went over with student. The student looked bored like she wanted to leave the session. After the tutor went over the worksheets with the student she then had her practice some examples that they did together.
Like we discussed in class of LOC's (Low Order Concerns), this tutoring session was an example of that. This session was based on a teacher-centered tutoring. A portion of the session was based on telling the student what to include in her essay such as details and the majority of the session was based on grammar usage.
The tutor was more concerned with spelling, grammar, and word structure with the student essay rather than developing main points in the essay that could have helped develop a thesis statement.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
First Tutoring Observation
Monday, September.15, 2014
In my first tutoring session, I observed a ESL student who was in ENG 101. The student came in the Writing Center with a essay that he had to write pertaining to an article that his class was assigned to read and respond too about stereotypes. The student came into the Writing Center with a draft of his essay which I thought was good. When the student came in he looked very relaxed and alert to what the tutor was telling him. He clearly had an idea of how he wanted his essay to be, but was also open minded to everything that the tutor was telling him to improve on his work.
Firstly, the tutor read his essay then discussed the main points of the article with him. Before discussing the main points of the article with the student, the tutor asked the student what are the main points within the article?, just to make sure that he understood. The tutor did this several times asking the student questions about his work and getting the student feedback instead of just simply talking. I liked how the tutor used the technique of collaborative tutoring, where the student and the tutor are in equal conversation of the paper. The tutor included the student. I really liked seeing that between the student and tutor. The tutor then went through the student's paper thoroughly, observing his sentence structure and making sure that he had supporting details to connect to his argument.
The student gave a lot of quotes throughout his essay from the article, so the tutor explained that he would have to give an explanation for those quotes, not just mention them. I like the fact that the tutor explained to the student what he should do to improve his essay such as, giving examples to show that he understands the article and give facts to support his opinion. According to the text Tutoring Writing by: McAndrew, the tutor in this session definitely focused on the HOC's (High Order Concerns) helping the student develop his thesis statement and supporting details rather than focusing on minor issues such as grammar and spelling.
After, the tutor was finished giving his feedback to the student, the student mentioned that he would come back to the Writing Center with the corrections made. The tutor strongly suggested that. I thought that was a good idea for the student to do since his essay wasn't due until the following week he still had time to improve his work.
I think that when several people read a writer's work they have more time to make changes and are able to receive multiple feedback.
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