Letter to Bert - Developing

Dear Bert, my name is xxx im a student at laguardia community college, my major is  childhood education. Im currently taking the course Eng 220, througout this class we had the pleasure to be able to observe tutoring sessions, and practice strategies while tutoring other students. I was able to attend four sessions and all four sessions taught me something different.

The first session I was a little confused and was a bit dissapointed on how the tutor was attending the student. The tutor was a gentelmen, and he started off the tutoring session good he asked the tutee what she needed help with and than the session began. He than looked at the professors comments that was left on the paper, I liked that technique because by doing so as a tutor you get an idea of what the professor is looking for. During the beginning of the turoring session he was paying attention to LOC’s. LOC stands for low order concerns which focus on sentence structures, grammar, and punctuation. I personally feel the tutor could have used a more effective style when tutoring because when I read a passage on “tutoring writing” the book states that when tutoring you shouldn’t pay attention to LOC’s, what we have to focus on is HOC, HOC’s mean the thesis, focus, and the development of the structure and development. During the session I got the impression that the student felt as if I was too close to them because she just kept on lookng at me and seemed nervous. I also liked that when he suggested something he would ask her if what he suggested made sense, I think that’s really important because you don’t want a student walking out feeling puzzled. Something he has to work on I would say was not to look so bored towards the end of the session, while she was explaining some things he would put his hands on his face, and yawned a few times without saying excuse me, I think this shows the tutee disinterest.

The second session when I observed he was also a guy, one thing I liked that he did was ask for the assignment, if I was a tutor I would do the same because you will get a better sense of the assignment and know what to help the tutee with. He also read the paper outloud to the tutee, he used the “read aloud” strategy this helps with correcting mistakes, and are able to realize without needing the tutors help. Another tactic he used was that made marks on the paper as he red along that he didn’t understand to be able to go back and discuss with her, and he also made notes for himself. When he found something that was a little off topic he would go back to the assignment sheet and ask her if the assignment was asking for what she wrote, this action showed me collabortive tutoring, collabortive tutoring is when the tutor encourages the writer with open ended and prompt questions, and when the tutor changes the topic from and to the paper, but always brings it back on topic. Another effective tactic he used was when the tutee didn’t understand a certain quote he would bring out outside issues to help her understand, and I think this is helpful because it helps the tutee get a better understanding of the topic she is writing about. When she asked for grammatical mistakes he told her that really isnt important and he explained to her that professors don’t really look at that, he gave her an idea of reading the paper outloud when she writes papers because it helps her check for grammatical mistakes.

The third session I was observing a lady, and she had two tutees. Which I thought was interesting, right off the back I thought she was a good tutor because one of the tutees has been working with her for a long time. That student was there specifically for grammar, and she was very good at it, she explained verbs to him and the meaning. When she read mistakes she didn’t even have to tell him he knew off the back what he needed to fix. She had index cards for when students needed help, and she also hung them up on the wall so that they would always remember. At the end of the session he left really comfortable and pleased with the session. The second tutee I had seen her the day before she went back to have help with her grammar. When the tutor saw a word that was too broad she will suggest the tutee use a different word and when she suggested a word she told the tutee to look the word up if she was unsure to use the word. The tutee didn’t want to read out loud and the tutor explained to her that reading out loud will enhance her english, I liked the way she explained because I encountered a situation like this and I let the tutor dominate the session. She helps the tutees realize their mistakes on their own to learn. Something interested that I encountered was that the tutee was unhappy with the session she had the day before she said that the tutor was no help because he didn’t even help her in what she wanted to be helped in. Other than that she was happy at the end of the session and she even asked the tutor if shes a teacher because she does her job really well, and was satisfied with her. The tutor was also happy that she was able to help her she always kept good posture and a smile everytime she saw that the tutees were able to understand.

My pedagogy is student centered learning and talking and writing because as I observed these strategies showed me that they were the most effective. Student-centered learning is an effective strategy because it encourages the tutee to do most of the talking and work. And allows the tutee to come up with his own ideas and enhances critical thinking. Talking and writing is also effective because it improves your writing. In the book talking and writing it says “students are far more experienced as talkers than as readers and writers”(4). This explaines why as a tutor talking is an option because students will get more engaged. I myself am a student and if im in a classroom where students arent talking than I become uninterested. Which is why talking and writing for me will always be an effective strategy.

After attending all these sessions I was really satisfied because I learned new strategies that will help me in my future as a teacher. All these sessions were different in their own way but were helpful to the students. I can say that I walked awa with some experience. I also want to take this time to say thank you for letting us go through this experience, and for the support thank you again!