What I really liked about this chapter was it assumed the role of tutor to us, the new tutors. I appreciated the multiple perspectives and ways of tutoring shown, emphasizing the point that in writing there often is no “right” answer, and there are multiple ways to go about constructing and reviewing an essay. I valued the section that discussed how important it is to form an impression of the whole paper, while also focusing on sections the tutee would like to, but doing so in a way that connects it to the entire paper and doesn’t simply isolate the concern. I liked the message on page 74 that stated the tutor should make the tutee feel like they are the expert, and we are learning from their writing. I think that idea goes back to an earlier chapter we read that emphasized the importance of not asserting control over your tutee’s paper. This idea also makes it easier to understand how to start a tutoring session, by asking the tutee to take the lead in explaining their essay as they understand it. I found the hierarchy list of dealing with essay concerns very helpful and insightful. It is as listed: deal with the topic, the essay’s suitability to the topic, its support, and organization. This helps me to visualize the order of questions I might ask in a session. Some of the questions provided in the chapter that I particularly liked were, “What do you want to focus on in the paper? Do you feel you achieved this?” and “Now that you’ve read the paper, what do you want to do with it to revise?” I like both of these because the put the control and power in the tutee and allows me to just act as a facilitator of ideas rather than treating the essay as mine.
While reading chapter 6, there were a few things that stuck out to me that I thought were important things to keep in mind while in a tutor session. The first thing that I liked was to listen to the whole paper and take notes as if I were taking notes for a class. Trying not to focus too much on one specific part of the paper and trying to get the whole picture is important for me because that will help me when I’m thinking of questions to ask. It would help me get a broader picture and hopefully give me a better understanding of what the student is trying to say. Taking notes as if I’m in a class was something that I thought was really interesting and something I never thought of doing. I think that is very beneficial because it helps outline areas that aren’t as clear and also helps me get a better sense of what questions I should be asking.
Another thing that I wanted to make sure I remembered was to tackle the higher order concerns first when giving feedback. I think sometimes it’s easy to focus on the little things that need fixing but I really want to try to focus on helping students with their process and not be an editor. Finally, a quote on page 86 that I really liked was, “…I learned that listening, being patient, and being able to ask good questions are more important than “having all the answers” about a particular subject.” I thought that this was important because I think it’s a good mindset to have when going into a tutoring session. We are there to be a resource for developing ideas and it’s nice to know that we don’t need to have all the answers to everything.
While reading chapter 6, there were a few things that stuck out to me that I thought were important things to keep in mind while in a tutor session. The first thing that I liked was to listen to the whole paper and take notes as if I were taking notes for a class. Trying not to focus too much on one specific part of the paper and trying to get the whole picture is important for me because that will help me when I’m thinking of questions to ask. It would help me get a broader picture and hopefully give me a better understanding of what the student is trying to say. Taking notes as if I’m in a class was something that I thought was really interesting and something I never thought of doing. I think that is very beneficial because it helps outline areas that aren’t as clear and also helps me get a better sense of what questions I should be asking.
Another thing that I wanted to make sure I remembered was to tackle the higher order concerns first when giving feedback. I think sometimes it’s easy to focus on the little things that need fixing but I really want to try to focus on helping students with their process and not be an editor. Finally, a quote on page 86 that I really liked was, “…I learned that listening, being patient, and being able to ask good questions are more important than “having all the answers” about a particular subject.” I thought that this was important because I think it’s a good mindset to have when going into a tutoring session. We are there to be a resource for developing ideas and it’s nice to know that we don’t need to have all the answers to everything.
This chapter was very accurate to being a tutor. The first thing the chapter mentioned was how it took 3 tutors to find the problem with one paper. All because the tutors kept getting hung up on one thing in the beginning instead of looking further into the paper, where the issue actually was. This I feel is why there is an emphasis on reading over a paper or writing assignment once fully before you even start editing it because if you immediately go in with your editing cap on, then you may miss things at the end. Another big thing that I thought was interesting and important was explaining to writers the comments you’re making as you make them. It’s stressful for students (or anyone) when someone starts intently marking up your paper with no words so it’s definitely important to explain your actions as you make them. At the end of the chapter the book gives us a question to ask the writer. “Now that you have read the paper, what do you want to revise?” Now this seems like a kind of obvious question to ask however it could possibly get the writer thinking rather than having you as the tutor point out everything for them. Just in these first classes alone I learned to question even more as a tutor and have been implementing those strategies to tutoring sessions I’ve been having.
I think this chapter was incredibly helpful as a new tutor to read and digest. I never have had a tutor do active note taking on one of my assignments on any of my writing prompts. I have never experienced being a peer tutee and I think the chapter and the book really helps me get into the brain of someone asking for help and trying to improve their writing. Understanding where the writer is coming from can help us tutors learn from them and help them help themselves.
I really enjoyed the different styles of note taking that were illustrated in the chapter specifically “Jessi’s notes.” My thought processes of reading and note taking align more with this style as it showed the natural progression of the writing piece. The example also brought up the point of where natural breaks in paragraphs can occur based on speaking out loud. This can help the writer understand their own narrative better. I felt reassured that I will find my own style in tutoring and that the scariest parts can be avoided with simulations like our in class activity coming up.
I think I will take this active listening and note taking style into tutoring in the future. These practices will help me better develop my strategy as a writing tutor and more importantly to help other writers. I think my biggest take away from this chapter was to be patient and listen all the way through the paper before stopping them or making knee jerk corrections that you think will help the writer. Context and hearing the entire narrative are more important than focusing just on how the introduction could be written “better.”
Another key lesson from this chapter and a topic we have talked about in class is the importance of having the writer explain back to you not just what they have written (i.e. just reading off the page). Having them explain to you in conversation their assignment prompt, thesis, main evidence, and personal ideas about the writing. The open dialogue will help both tutor and tutee understand what the writer has already accomplished and what areas need revision or more attention.
5 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 3”
What I really liked about this chapter was it assumed the role of tutor to us, the new tutors. I appreciated the multiple perspectives and ways of tutoring shown, emphasizing the point that in writing there often is no “right” answer, and there are multiple ways to go about constructing and reviewing an essay. I valued the section that discussed how important it is to form an impression of the whole paper, while also focusing on sections the tutee would like to, but doing so in a way that connects it to the entire paper and doesn’t simply isolate the concern. I liked the message on page 74 that stated the tutor should make the tutee feel like they are the expert, and we are learning from their writing. I think that idea goes back to an earlier chapter we read that emphasized the importance of not asserting control over your tutee’s paper. This idea also makes it easier to understand how to start a tutoring session, by asking the tutee to take the lead in explaining their essay as they understand it. I found the hierarchy list of dealing with essay concerns very helpful and insightful. It is as listed: deal with the topic, the essay’s suitability to the topic, its support, and organization. This helps me to visualize the order of questions I might ask in a session. Some of the questions provided in the chapter that I particularly liked were, “What do you want to focus on in the paper? Do you feel you achieved this?” and “Now that you’ve read the paper, what do you want to do with it to revise?” I like both of these because the put the control and power in the tutee and allows me to just act as a facilitator of ideas rather than treating the essay as mine.
While reading chapter 6, there were a few things that stuck out to me that I thought were important things to keep in mind while in a tutor session. The first thing that I liked was to listen to the whole paper and take notes as if I were taking notes for a class. Trying not to focus too much on one specific part of the paper and trying to get the whole picture is important for me because that will help me when I’m thinking of questions to ask. It would help me get a broader picture and hopefully give me a better understanding of what the student is trying to say. Taking notes as if I’m in a class was something that I thought was really interesting and something I never thought of doing. I think that is very beneficial because it helps outline areas that aren’t as clear and also helps me get a better sense of what questions I should be asking.
Another thing that I wanted to make sure I remembered was to tackle the higher order concerns first when giving feedback. I think sometimes it’s easy to focus on the little things that need fixing but I really want to try to focus on helping students with their process and not be an editor. Finally, a quote on page 86 that I really liked was, “…I learned that listening, being patient, and being able to ask good questions are more important than “having all the answers” about a particular subject.” I thought that this was important because I think it’s a good mindset to have when going into a tutoring session. We are there to be a resource for developing ideas and it’s nice to know that we don’t need to have all the answers to everything.
While reading chapter 6, there were a few things that stuck out to me that I thought were important things to keep in mind while in a tutor session. The first thing that I liked was to listen to the whole paper and take notes as if I were taking notes for a class. Trying not to focus too much on one specific part of the paper and trying to get the whole picture is important for me because that will help me when I’m thinking of questions to ask. It would help me get a broader picture and hopefully give me a better understanding of what the student is trying to say. Taking notes as if I’m in a class was something that I thought was really interesting and something I never thought of doing. I think that is very beneficial because it helps outline areas that aren’t as clear and also helps me get a better sense of what questions I should be asking.
Another thing that I wanted to make sure I remembered was to tackle the higher order concerns first when giving feedback. I think sometimes it’s easy to focus on the little things that need fixing but I really want to try to focus on helping students with their process and not be an editor. Finally, a quote on page 86 that I really liked was, “…I learned that listening, being patient, and being able to ask good questions are more important than “having all the answers” about a particular subject.” I thought that this was important because I think it’s a good mindset to have when going into a tutoring session. We are there to be a resource for developing ideas and it’s nice to know that we don’t need to have all the answers to everything.
This chapter was very accurate to being a tutor. The first thing the chapter mentioned was how it took 3 tutors to find the problem with one paper. All because the tutors kept getting hung up on one thing in the beginning instead of looking further into the paper, where the issue actually was. This I feel is why there is an emphasis on reading over a paper or writing assignment once fully before you even start editing it because if you immediately go in with your editing cap on, then you may miss things at the end. Another big thing that I thought was interesting and important was explaining to writers the comments you’re making as you make them. It’s stressful for students (or anyone) when someone starts intently marking up your paper with no words so it’s definitely important to explain your actions as you make them. At the end of the chapter the book gives us a question to ask the writer. “Now that you have read the paper, what do you want to revise?” Now this seems like a kind of obvious question to ask however it could possibly get the writer thinking rather than having you as the tutor point out everything for them. Just in these first classes alone I learned to question even more as a tutor and have been implementing those strategies to tutoring sessions I’ve been having.
I think this chapter was incredibly helpful as a new tutor to read and digest. I never have had a tutor do active note taking on one of my assignments on any of my writing prompts. I have never experienced being a peer tutee and I think the chapter and the book really helps me get into the brain of someone asking for help and trying to improve their writing. Understanding where the writer is coming from can help us tutors learn from them and help them help themselves.
I really enjoyed the different styles of note taking that were illustrated in the chapter specifically “Jessi’s notes.” My thought processes of reading and note taking align more with this style as it showed the natural progression of the writing piece. The example also brought up the point of where natural breaks in paragraphs can occur based on speaking out loud. This can help the writer understand their own narrative better. I felt reassured that I will find my own style in tutoring and that the scariest parts can be avoided with simulations like our in class activity coming up.
I think I will take this active listening and note taking style into tutoring in the future. These practices will help me better develop my strategy as a writing tutor and more importantly to help other writers. I think my biggest take away from this chapter was to be patient and listen all the way through the paper before stopping them or making knee jerk corrections that you think will help the writer. Context and hearing the entire narrative are more important than focusing just on how the introduction could be written “better.”
Another key lesson from this chapter and a topic we have talked about in class is the importance of having the writer explain back to you not just what they have written (i.e. just reading off the page). Having them explain to you in conversation their assignment prompt, thesis, main evidence, and personal ideas about the writing. The open dialogue will help both tutor and tutee understand what the writer has already accomplished and what areas need revision or more attention.