Mock Tutoring Session

After experiencing what it would be like as both a tutor and a 'peer seeking help,' I got a real taste of what tutoring would be like. First I was a tutor, and while being a tutor I have to admit that I wasn't thinking about how to apply Brooks or North to the way I approached the session. Instead I tried to apply my own ideas onto the session. Obviously, based on our class discussions I probably did use some of their techniques, I did it inadvertently. Right at the start of the session I realized I knew nothing of the play the student was writing about. So, I tried to learn about the play he was writing about while still making sure the ideas were still on the paper. I think this worked well because as Robert was describing to me the play, it made it easier for him to be able to put his ideas onto paper. This is a clear example of Bruffee because our conversation was an external example of his thinking.

A major reason why I think this was more of a taste instead of what the real thing would be like is because in both positions I felt as though we were tutoring students that probably wouldn't have come in asking for help. With Robert I worked on some small things to try to make the flow of the paper a little better since all his ideas were already well written. When I was the student with Emily, I thought she tried to do the same basic thing. Now, I was using a paper where I had already handed in a rough draft, revised that rough draft, and was given an A on the final copy. So, obviously this was tough for Emily to fix some things. I noticed through the beginning parts of the paper she did a good job making sure everything was flowing well, and as we got deeper into the paper she helped me develop some ideas more clearly. When working in the writing center I anticipate getting these good writers, but I also think I'll get a lot of not so developed papers. So, while this was helpful I would want to start working with papers that weren't already given A's by the professor.