Today was the first day of tutoring at Fresno State's English Writing Center for spring 2009. I tutored last semester and learned a lot about helping students understand the relationship between their writing and an audience. This semester I hope to learn as much as I did last, but in different areas.
I've heard that Fresno State's Writing Center is unique. Rather than tutoring students one-on-one, we tutor in groups of three students to one tutor. Well, not students, but tutees. I've taught College Composition before, so it was a challenge not to resort to my tearcherly ways. I'm not there to "fix" their papers. But I am there to facilitate their understanding of what it means to communicate an idea, a stance on an issue, to someone else.
What I noticed last semester is that when we read a tutee's paper, I plowed through the sharing and responding techniques presented in Sharing and Responding by Peter Elbow and Patricia Belanoff. But I didn't pause to help the students apply the responses to the paper. I will be focused on doing that this semester.
Also, I used multiple responses on one paper, rather than one response. I know better this semester to allow my tutees time to become familiar with the techniques of say back (summary), more (I'd like to hear more about), believe/doubt (I believe you when you way/I doubt that), movies (movies of the reader's mind), etc. I notice now that when I respond to a paper, I tend to say these things. I'd like to hear more about, I believe this because I know this, I doubt this because, etc. Even, are you saying x? I think you are almost saying x. This helps the writer understand how their words on the page are being interpreted. Of course, Elbow and Belanoff say it a lot better.
I have high hopes for this semester. Including being able to provide help to walk-ins as well as online submissions.
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