Q&A: Balancing a Student’s Requests with Your Observations

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Q: I asked a student what she wanted to help with, and she said grammar, but her paper had more problems with citation. Should I try and fix everything?

A: I commend you for your concern for the student and your willingness to negotiate a session’s goals from the start. This is tricky because we can’t fix everything, and we should try to focus on what the student asks. Keep in mind, though, that students don’t always use the same writing vocabulary as we do. I’ve found that students will ask you to “help with grammar” as a catch-all phrase when they’re not totally sure what they need to work on—maybe they receive papers from professors with lots of marks and circles, and they’re not quite sure what they’re looking at.

If a student asks you for help with grammar but you notice more pressing issues with the paper, someone must make the call between focusing on , say, “that/which” errors or on plagiarism. Try communicating this with the student and leave it up to them. Say something like: “We can definitely try to look for patterns of error in your grammar, but I’m noticing a lot of quoted material that hasn’t been cited. You don’t want to unintentionally plagiarize your source’s words – do you want to tackle that first and then use the remaining time for smaller grammar mistakes? It’s up to you.”

A response like this does a few things:

  • It shows that you’re actively listening to them and letting them direct the work on their paper, thus giving them ownership of their work
  • It reminds them that plagiarizing is a more pressing matter than small grammar mistakes, especially if it’s happening frequently in a paper
  • It demonstrates that you’re looking at the writer and the paper holistically, not as a minefield of mistakes to be diffused for an A paper

Would you approach this differently? Share your own answer to this question in the comments.

We should have a workshop about…

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By Jocelyn Amevuvor

Have you ever thought about creating your own Writing Center workshop? You may want to since it is a great professional addition for resumes as well as a great way to develop your own understanding of a certain topic.
Although creating a workshop isn’t as easy as 1, 2, 3, hopefully these 1, 2, 3s of creating workshops will aid you in your endeavor.

When you begin to brainstorm:

  1.  Think of a topic that you are interested in and/or have experience with. It should be something that you see students need but aren’t currently getting.
  2. Do a little research on the topic. You’ll want some reliable sources to rely on.
  3. Talk to Ben, the assistant director and other tutors to find out if they know of any good sources. You may also want to talk to professors outside of the English department for more information.

As you begin to design your slides:

  1. Remember: Microsoft PowerPoint makes it easy to pick out pre-designed backgrounds and fonts. Don’t go crazy with special effects and images, but do…
  2. Be dynamic with font sizes and colors. In other words, don’t be afraid to make some sentences and words bigger or in a different color for emphasis.
  3. Don’t overload slides. Remember the 7 by 7 rule: no more than 7 lines per slide and 7 words per line.

As you begin to insert content, keep these tips in mind:

  1. Make it a goal to generate conversation in the class by using questions or other conversation generators in the workshop.
  2. Don’t just say an idea. Try illustrating it through colorful pictures, funny comics, and organized diagrams. Smart Art is a great way to illustrate something simply and effectively.
  3. Check to see if the beginning of your presentation generates interest by getting feedback from others. If it doesn’t look interesting to you, it probably won’t be interesting to someone else.
  4. Transitions aren’t just for essays! Ensure that your points move smoothly from one slide to the next. A transition should basically build from the idea mentioned on the previous slide. So, if your slide jumps from one supporting idea to another, it probably needs a transition.
  5. Peer review, peer review, peer review! Get input from fellow tutors, classmates, friends and family.

Reservations About Tutoring Online

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By Nick Marsellas

Even though we all know the basics of the Online Writing Center (OWC), some of us still have reservations about tutoring online. One tutor told me, “I haven’t even tutored many people face to face yet—I think the OWC is for veterans.”

Dr. Ben Rafoth was quick to dispel this fear, saying that some of the challenges posed by the OWC may be different from tutoring in person, but that doesn’t mean that those problems are more difficult to overcome. In his opinion, even experienced tutors occasionally run into problems (both online and in person), but that’s no reason to avoid the OWC.

Additionally, some tutors have said that they prefer face-to-face interaction with students because they believe it’s easier to build a rapport with someone in person than over the phone. There is certainly some aspect of body language that gets lost over the phone. However, as a Writing Center tutor and avid lover of language, I believe that the words we choose and the ways we choose to say them are influential in forming bonds with writers. Consider the last time you made a phone call—were you able to tell whether it was a positive or negative experience? Of course!

The Online Writing Center is an exciting, new experience and a great way to pick up a few extra hours once in a while. More than that, however, it is a way to reach out and help more students. Our job as tutors is to help students become better writers, but who says we can’t do it lying in bed in our PJs?

The Three Principles

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By Dr. Ben

There are three principles I’ve tried to encourage all Writing Center tutors to follow. There are many things to learn about tutoring writing, but these three are a good start (in no particular order):

  1. We work as a team. Tutors in the IUP Writing Center have a big challenge. Students visit the center from all colleges and majors, and they bring a wide variety of topics and assignments. No one can be an expert on every subject, so it’s vital that tutors rely on one another to ask questions, talk about sessions, and offer support. New tutors look to more experienced tutors for advice and role models. The directors depend on the tutors to undertake new projects, take responsibility for the work in the Writing Center, and alert the staff to problems or concerns. We have a “flat” organizational structure, and this requires that everyone work together.
  2. We use our good judgment. No amount of teamwork can replace the need for individuals to exercise good judgment. When you’re one-one-one with a student in a tutoring session, you have to draw upon your own experience, intellect, and judgment to help the writer become a better writer. Consulting with other tutors and the directors can help to improve the judgments we all have to make, but everyone needs to use their own heads.
  3. We welcome feedback. We communicate, and we do so at all levels. When someone does a good job or does something nice, we tell them. If one of our tutors needs help with a session, we help them. If I ask you to do something that seems impractical or ineffective, you have to tell me. We don’t just let problems slide and hope they’ll go away.

Is Tutoring a Skill Set or a Craft?

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By Chris Taylor

Writing Center tutors may often be perceived as possessing a set of skills that enable them to be effective tutors.  While it is certainly true that there is some skill involved in tutoring, it is probably not the best idea for tutors to think of what they do as merely a skill set.

Let me explain why with this example: If a student comes into the Writing Center with a different type of assignment than what I am used to, it would be easy for me to doubt my ability to help him/her based on my belief that I don’t have the skills necessary to assist with that particular type of writing.

In comparison, if  I conceive of tutoring as a craft which I am constantly developing and fine-tuning over time, I allow myself to recognize the potential of that particular tutoring session to be a learning opportunity for me as well as the student. In other words, by viewing tutoring as a craft, we relieve ourselves of the mindset that they have to have all of the answers and that they have to perfectly satisfy the student’s needs. Instead, we can experience the excitement associated with continually learning and growing as a tutor.

Besides, imagine that tutoring was nothing more than simply applying the exact same skills over and over again, session after session.  Tutoring would become pretty dull, wouldn’t it?

Contrast that to the viewpoint of tutoring being a craft in which tutors will regularly gain new insights that make them better at what they do, in addition to making their work significantly more satisfying and enriching. Which perspective makes you more excited to come to work?