Class Agenda 5.12: CATW, Kozol

1. CATW Review

2. CATW Prompt

3. Tutoring Writing strategy review

4. Kozol

Case Study: Competent

Case Study

            Collaborative learning has become an important method that I want to continue practicing. I am a student at LaGuardia community college, majoring in Childhood Education. I’m focusing on working towards becoming an English teacher for elementary school children. This is extremely significant to me because not only do I love to read and write, it can take you further career wise and success in professions that require excellent writing. During the last six weeks, I have been reading and developing my tutoring skills using particular text as well as other readings that made this process smoother. Tutoring Writing by Donald A. McAndrew and Thomas J. Reigstad, Active Voice, Integrity in the Teaching Writing of writing and Writing, Inner speech and Meditation by James Moffett have all been great readings and left a major impact on my development. They helped me keep in my mind the value of a writer’s and the steps to being good assistance to their progress in their writing skills. I believe that in tutoring, the writer’s voice should be a part of the decisions made to any changes on their piece.

            Tutoring in general is very useful for students that need that extra help or push in a certain subject matter. Tutoring writing is for students that want to gain or develop their skills and also get some encouragement to write what they thought would not be fit in their paper. Tutoring in some sense is like professional advice that can or cannot be put into the writer’s piece. It matters a great deal to many of the students that seek this help because they want and need to become better writer’s. Like I said, it brings a great feeling of accomplishment when their piece has received an outstanding grade and good comments from their teachers after they’ve revised.

            When tutoring, we should be able to encourage the writer to be confident in their piece regardless of the “red marks” made by the professor. To have a successful session, the writer should have most of their concerns met and questions answered that will enable them to proceed with their revision. In other words, the writer should walk out of the session knowing more than what they did when they first walked in. Collaborative tutoring allows the tutor and writer to equally give their ideas to the questions that are being asked. The tutor gets an idea of how the writer began their process of their paper and also identifies the problems that need attention. As a tutor you should be aware of our “cheerleading”, “positive stroking is good. But tutors should not use praise to sugarcoat the truth” (17). We must give attention to the writer, their piece and acknowledge the effort that they put in trying something different when they are in session. A writer is very sensitive and knows when a tutor is being false towards their piece. They will not take this lightly because it is important that they get the best help in order to gain the skills that they are lacking when composing.

            My tutoring session consisted of some of these theories in order for me to have a positive outcome. The assignment asked for the students to portray bicultural as a strength or weakness in today’s world. They were to use supportive evidence in the argument that is chosen CUNY+ for at least two articles and cite them in their paper. Their textbook was a must in their paper in order to receive credit for supportive evidence. Before sitting down I introduced myself to my tutee and asked him for his name. As we sat down, I asked him what the assignment was and he handed me a hardcopy of it then I asked him what his position was and why. He told me that he thought it is strength because of the hardships people that are bicultural overcome. He handed me his paper, informing me that it was his first draft and that it was rushed. Together we read through the introduction and I quickly made note of the thesis. As we continued to read, I stopped at every point that he made and the evidence that he used.

In the last body paragraph, he used a friend as an example of someone that has overcome obstacles to being bicultural. I asked him if he can relate to the topic and he began to talk about himself, where he came from and his education here as well as his origin. “Most of all, keeping inner speech as the matrix of all writing keeps teaching of writing centered on authentic writing” (234). I felt like he was a perfect primary example to his assignment. He wouldn’t have to cite from an article, the use of his own thoughts would be an asset to his paper. He wasn’t really sure if he was allowed to use himself and that was a problem. I told him that he should ask his professor if he could do so, that way he does not put in an example that may not be allowed. “Writers should feel welcome to explore their own ideas and find their own ways to express them, without unwelcomed intrusions from the tutor.” (19). I didn’t want to make changes or many suggestions because I wanted him to alter his paper. Instead, I questioned him on whether he felt he needed to add more evidence and where, if he would like my help on and what I know of the subject, which lead us to speak about an artist I knew that was bicultural. I suggested for him to do some more research on famous people that are bicultural.

He was satisfied with the session making notes on his paper next to each paragraph that needed some more details and adding to his conclusion. Once we completed that, he asked me if I could go over grammar errors that I may have noticed during our discussion.  We did a “read aloud” of where I noticed some fixes, in order for him to hear the few spelling errors he had in forming his sentences. “Have the writer read the piece aloud to himself. Hearing his own words often lets a writer catch incongruous word combinations or words or word endings that he has inadvertently omitted” (61). He did not have many so it was a quick run through of the paper and we had about two minutes to talk about his background relating the assignment.

Collaborative tutoring is very useful but another strategy that I would use is student-centered tutoring because it gives the writer the lead role in the session as well as being independent. “The tutor listens a great deal, especially early in the session, asks a few questions, and contributes personal recollections and associations to add to the writer’s discovery and development of the subject” (25).   It is important to let the writer be independent of their work and main ideas. Tutoring is significant to education because it gives students to opportunity to gain skills that they could not during a lesson in class. It helps them advance or “catch up” with the rest of the class, which gives them the feeling of accomplishment. It is also a positive activity for students that do not get the help that they need at home. Education is an extremely major factor to the success in an individual’s life. As educators we must have a passion for the success in pushing children forward to the careers they dream of, regardless of the difficulties we may encounter.

Works Cited:

Donald A. McAndrew and Thomas J. Reigstad. Tutoring Writing: a practical guide for conferences. Boynton/Cook, 2001. Print.

Moffett, James. Active Voice: a writing program across the curriculum. New Hampshire: Boynton/Cook, 1992. Print.

Moffett, James. “Writing, Inner Speech and Meditation.” College English. 44.3 (1982): 231-246. Print. 

Case Study: Novice

                                                                       Case Study

        My name is xxx. I’m majoring in childhood education. I am taking English 220 with professor Rogers. Throughout the session I have learned and gain knowledge about tutoring. The texts that was required for this class was Tutoring writing by Donald A. Mc Andrew and Thomas j. Reigstad, the other one is Active voice by James Moffet . I had the opportunity to observe the writing center for four hours which was the requirement for the class. On the other hand I had the chance to tutor the English 101 students.

        Tutoring can be fun but it also can be challenging at some point. I believe tutoring Is collaborative learning. The tutor and the tutee share equal amount of conversation and decisions making. In the tutoring writing it mentioned that “the relationship between tutor and the writer changes from teacher student to converser many times during the tutorial”( Mc Andrew 26). My philosophy of tutoring is your ideas and thoughts about certain topic to the student. Tutoring can be defined as sharing knowledge and expanding intelligence to other by helping them. An effective tutor gives suggestion about potential useful of resources such as websites, books, and articles. This relates to the strategies I have learned mentioned in the text tutoring writing “being an expert”. Tutor should always give back honest feedback to their tutee. ( Mc Andrew 160). I believe the more honest feedback a student gets the more effort they put writing a paper. The more advices a student get, they try not to make the same mistake again as I have observed in the writing enter.

     It was a nightmare for me when the professor told us that we are going to tutor the English 101 student. it was my first time tutoring at LaGuardia community college. I felt  so nervous and had the feeling I won’t able to do this all. I was so hesitant about what if the a student ask a question and I didn’t know the answer. Many questions was running in my mind that made me so fussy about tutoring for the first time. I was anxious about what if I made a mistake while tutoring.

  I was assigned to tutor two students at the same time. It was challenging for me because I never had tutor anybody before. I felt very uncomfortable. I asked the tutee about what was there assignment about. They had to do a research paper on biculturalism using two resources. Both students had an outline. While I was reading there outline felt sense term came in my mind because they express their feeling about the topic what they already knew. There outline also related to free writing. Tutee did a free writing biculturalism. According to tutoring writing free writing exercise was popularized by peter elbow ( 1981). I was surprised to see that in there outline the tutee had some useful information already. I give them suggestion to use their ideas from the outline in there paper. I convince them to use the library data base which they can find articles and other resources for their paper. At the end tutee told me that I was helpful. But I didn’t felt that way because I couldn’t tell them much about their topic. My tutoring experience was not that bad I thought about.

My reflection of tutoring in education is that a tutee and a tutor share there thoughts and idea with each other. While the student is with the tutor they have the chance to use the strategies felt sense. Felt sense is expressing your feeling that you have inside your body about a topic you are writing about ( pearl 365). Tutoring is using your skills and intelligence with other people. I believe Education Is the key to success in life. Without education we cannot move on in life, The higher education we have the more luxury life we live. Tutoring is all about education. To become a unique and effective tutor we have to work hard and achieve our goals.

Class Agenda 5.9: Case Study, Midterm Review, Quiz 5

1. Quiz

2. MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: MUST BE PRESENT FOR CLASS MONDAY. WE WILL TUTOR IN THE SECOND HOUR OF CLASS!

3. Brief Midterm review

4. Brief review of quiz questions

4. Case Study Assignment

5. Letter to Bert Peer Review

6. Review of CATW

We must leave feedback on at least two blogs by the end of class!

Case Study

Due Date: See syllabus
Peer Review: See syllabus

3 full pages (min for an A)

Assignment Goal: The goal of this assignment is for students to relate their tutoring work within the larger context of both this course and their philosophy of pedagogy.

Assignment Description: Begin your case study by introducing yourself, and then articulating your tutoring philosophy. Introduce the texts you'll be drawing upon and how they inform your main principles of tutoring. You might draw upon the texts and readings by mentioning up front the major ideas you plan to cite, who wrote them, and what texts they're from. However you decide to convey this information to the reader, you will then relate how your ideas fit into your larger philosophy of pedagogy. You will state that philosophy and then explain how your tutoring work is an extension of that philosophy.

In some ways, your thesis statement is a combination of two philosophies: your 'tutoring' philosophy (with strategies drawn from Tutoring Writing, Active Voice, Rose, Perl, etc) and your 'pedagogical' philosophy (with your ideas drawn from Robinson, conflicts over profit-driven education, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Kozol's Savage Inequalities, etc).

For your thesis statement, consider: what is tutoring? what does it do? why does it matter? Your answers to these questions could help you form your tutoring philosophy. You'll want to ultimately be able to explain the different principles of your philosophy to your readers.When you consider your principals of tutoring, consider what theories/strategies/texts they come from. That will give you an idea about how to connect your tutoring principals to the intellectual foundations of your larger pedagogical principals.

Develop examples of how your tutoring experience has helped you enact your philosophy. Let your work with students demonstrate and illustrate different principles of your philosophy. In each example, give details about your work with students: what were the challenges, and how did you overcome them? How did you approach your work with students? How did you find out what worked and what didn't? Supplement your discussion with regular references to course texts.

The "case study" aspect of this assignment asks you to show your tutoring principals (the foundation of your tutoring philosophy) at work in your interactions with students while tutoring.

In final part of your essay, consider some of the more philosophical discussions we've had about the context of tutoring. What are your reflections upon the role of tutoring in education? What are your broader reflections about the role of education itself? How do you see your work as a teacher within the larger trends in education we've discussed in class? And in the larger questions of pedagogical philosophy? You might allude to some of these ideas in the 'case study' paragraphs, but this is where you will develop them in full.

Class Agenda 5.5: Pedagogy of the Oppressed and your philosophy

1. Announcements: Tutoring Writing, Letter to Bert due date, 099 Class Visit, Podcast date

2. Class Activity: Your Philosophy of Pedagogy


Reminder: In your Case Study, you will discuss how your own tutoring work fits into the themes of writing pedagogy we've discussed over the semester with Active Voice and Tutoring Writing (this aspect of the assignment will be similar to your 'Letter to Bert' assignment). What distinguishes your Case Study, however, will be the ways that you bring also bring your ideas about 'teaching writing' into conversation with your 'philosophy of pedagogy' --  that is, what you believe to be true purposes of both education and teaching. If teaching writing helps us to teach students to think for themselves, we must also ask: what is the value of such independent thought? What are we trying to ultimately achieve?



Activity Goal: Students will decide what ideas might incorporate from Friere's Pedagogy of the Oppressed into their philosophy of pedagogy reflections (these reflections will make up part of the thesis statement of your "Case Study" assignment).

Activity Description: In our last class we 'read closely' a couple passages from Friere, and spent some class time working through Friere's language, which can be both dense and provoking. Today we will spend some time working through more passages with two goals in mind: producing a working summary of several passages, and deciding if the ideas we find in those passages might be possible fits for own philosophy of pedagogies. Last week the class was split 50/50, for example on incorporating the concept of "liberation" from this work into your own thinking.

Before beginning our group work we will briefly look at one early passage in the chapter as a class. We will produce a summary together and then decide, perhaps via quick vote, whether we would accept one the ideas from the passage into our thinking. [BANKING V PROBLEM POSING, 81/79 on PDF]

First, Let's split into four small groups of about three (depending on our numbers). I will assign each group a passage for summary and interpretation. Then each group will produce a working summary that they can quickly relate back to the class. Each individual in the group will then decide on whether or not they would incorporate the summarized idea/passage into their own philosophy, either in whole or in part, while being able to say why.

Finally, time-permitting, each individual will begin to compose a paragraph that connects their thinking to Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

Group One: 74: "The truth is..." paragraph
Group Two: 78: "Education as the exercise..."
Group Three: 79: "Those truly committed..."
Group Four: 83: "In problem posing education..."
Group Five? 84: "Problem Posing education affirms..."

3. As a class, let's look closer at a passage from 85.

4. Now, let's look ahead to the "Letter to Bert."

Class Agenda 5.2: Writing your letter to Bert / Responding to ALEC

1. Announcements: Important to attend Class Monday. See due dates for upcoming assignments. Midterms back next week.

I have to leave class at 10.35 to present at the CUE conference here at LaGuardia. I have arranged for a colleague to proctor the class during my absence. I will return by 11.50 to discuss today's reading with you. We will continue discussing the reading on Monday through a class activity.

2. In-class Writing Exercise. You have two objects during this writing period.

a. Transitioning from Problem-Posing to the Letter to Bert. Last week we looked at sample Bert letters, discussed our Writing Center observations in the Problem Posing groupwork, and went over the assignment. Please spend the majority of your time today drafting your Letter to Bert. Begin the process. Feel free to workshop your ideas with your classmates, but stay focused - that's why my colleague is here (although I'm sure you will work diligently!).

b. Leave yourself 15-20 minutes to blog about the reading for today. I want you to respond to the ideas of the chapter overall, but I also want you to respond to a specific passage in the text you want to explore. What is your general reaction to the banking concept of education? Does it apply to our world still? What ideas does the author use to oppose that idea? Do you agree? Can you think of other alternatives? How does this chapter connect with our previous class discussions? How does it connect with your previous blogs? How would this fit into your philosophy of pedagogy?

c. NOTE: if you didn't see the videos from in-class recently on ALEC, put in some headphones, watch a couple, and be sure to blog your reactions! Check your students blogs on their responses: there are some fascinating and strong responses! Those were great to read.

We will use these blogs for our activities Monday, but also for class discussion when I return.