The first five minutes of the session I observed...

In the first five minutes of the session, I introduced myself to the tutor and the learner. I had a set of forms for both to sign giving their consent for me to observe them. I answered a couple of questions regarding confidentiality from the student then she and the tutor signed the papers. Vanessa was the tutor and Camille was the student in the session that I observed.

Thomas Newkirk’s ideas are realistic. He is right when he says in his article, “The First Five Minutes: Setting the Agenda in a Writing Conference” that the sessions are only a certain period of time and if there is not direction to go in, the session will go on and on, wasting both the student’s and the teacher’s time. He also says to pick one or two important issues to concentrate on that both the tutor and the student agree on to make sure that the conference does not “backfire.” He calls this agreement “a meeting of the minds.”

Vanessa and Camille quickly came to a “meeting of the minds” as recommended by Newkirk in the first five minutes of the session that I observed. Naturally, they already have a rapport from having been in the same class. Also, by this time, both know what is expected of them in their respective roles of tutor and student. So, it has to be more comfortable for us classmates as we role play than it will be when we are approached by students for tutoring or when we’re an observer and the student or even the tutor does not know who we are.

Tutor and teacher were friendly and pleasant to each other in the session. Vanessa sat next to Camille. There were more observers than I to the session. The members of the class were in the audience. This did not distract the tutor. However the student admitted that she was distracted by all of the attention her piece was receiving.

Vanessa had asked Camille to read the piece that she had written. Camille read it and Vanessa asked questions that were direct yet pleasant and open without any judgments or assumptions on her part. The tutor asked what was the main point that Camille wanted to make. The teacher gently questioned and spoke positively throughout the session. This was well received by the student.

The two main ideas that the tutor brings up to the student should have to do with higher order concerns. Vanessa asked, “What is the main idea?” She also explained to the student that her conclusion needed more to it. Vanessa didn’t think the paper’s conclusion had a clear focus. Camille felt very strongly that her conclusion was good and Camille kept the conclusion just as it was. Camille also found her own minor mistakes, (lower order concerns) while she was reading.

Blog # 13

A Critique of Thomas Newkirk’s “The First Five Minutes: Setting the Agenda in a Writing Conference”
by Molly D. Kenner

Thomas Newkirk explains in his essay “The First Five Minutes: Setting the Agenda in a Writing Conference that the teacher must set an agenda that is a “meeting of the minds” of both student and teacher in the beginning of a writing conference. He says one or two important issues in the paper need to be the focal points of the conference. Newkirk states that the time spent with the student working on her paper is short and if no direction is established quickly the meeting can be a waste of time for the student and teacher alike.

The author provides three case studies. Each student’s paper did not have a clear focus and each teacher’s task was to find out from the student what the main point of the paper was. Newkirk showed how instructors fall into traps that make “conferences misfire badly.” An example of this was in the case of “…Like a Mack Truck.” The instructor dominates the session talking “twice as much” as the student. The instructor did not make good use of the first five minutes and ended up with an unsuccessful conference.

In the case “It Just Didn’t Make Sense” the instructor makes a better and faster assessment of the needs of the student. The teacher asks questions that are understood by the student and allow her to examine herself for the answers and think her way through to a logical conclusion. Newkirk reminds us to be careful not to talk to much; to use the start of a session to agree on where the focus will be for the student’s paper; that the focus must be narrowed down to no more than two main issues; the teacher should not have the agenda for the paper pre-set; the teacher should be a “model” that the student can learn from.

Blog #12 - Being Tutored and Observed

In our group, Erin was the Tutor, Vanessa the Observer, and I the student. Vanessa brought forms for the tutor and the student to sign acknowledging our acceptance to her being in the room observing the tutoring session. She explained all aspects of the forms we signed including confidentiality. Vanessa was in no way noticeable and I forgot that she was present. Her focus for her research question has to do with eye contact of student and tutor in a tutoring session.

Erin and I were looking at my document on the computer. We sat next to each other however, we were faced opposite to where the observer was. Our backs were to her. Seeing the two of us making eye contact might have been a little difficult for the observer. It may be as hard for an observer to see the eye contact of the participants even if they sit across from each other or next to each other even with a paper document.

What I learned from our session in CAS, is that it is going to be best to have a paper to look at as opposed to looking over the essay, etc. on a computer. Having paperwork will work better in the case of an observer being in the room, and it will also be better for the one on one of tutor and student.

Research Question

I want to learn how the tone of a tutor's voice affects the learner. I will listen to measure the speed of the tutor's speech and the tone of the tutor's voice. I will listen and look for specifics like:
Is this voice pleasing to the ear?
Is it gruff, gravelly, or harsh?
Does it sound interested in the learner?
Is it too loud?
Is it too soft?
Is it condescending?
Is it caring?
Is it empathetic?

It might be an opportunity to think and talk...

The Minimalist approach may be an opportunity to get the student to think and talk. A tutor must be adept at this technique as well as the other tutoring methods. She should be the judge as to when is the best time to pull the MM out of her war chest. I still don't think that it is to be used on every student. Some students may well be intimidated by this manner of tutoring. I think all of the methods of tutoring have the power to get the student thinking and talking.

Blog 8 (re-worked)

Here's my list:

Be attentive (focusing in on what the student needs).

Be careful not to make assumptions or judgments about the student.

Focus on the strong points of the learner's paper and provide positive feedback.

Ask questions that help the learner see where he can make the weaker spots in the paper stronger.

Encourage student to write down helpful points.

Sit next to the student, it's less intimidating for the student and the tutor's less likely to mark up or write on the student's paper.

As the tutor, I don't need to worry if I don't know the material for the student's paper.

Be aware of both your and your student's body language and make the necessary adjustments to try and change negative B.L. coming from student or yourself.

Be capable of switching to a different technique, if necessary for the session's success.

The tutoring session is more about the learner getting his paper correct than it is about the tutor.

Re-thinking Blog #7

The most important features of effective tutoring have everything to do with building rapport. The tutor should do everything that she can to establish a good relationship with the learner in the least amount of time possible to ensure a successful tutoring session. (It should not take thirty minutes to get going in a positive direction.) The student needs to trust that the tutor is a capable teacher. This can be accomplished if the tutor is good listener who will encourage the learner.

To improve my tutoring methods I will need to become more confident in my ability to teach. My recent understanding that I don't need to have all knowledge about all subjects helps a lot. I just need to know what questions to ask the student. He or she will be able to answer the questions and get the desired results, a well-written paper.

A good handshake and a smile as I greet the student who comes to me for tutoring is where I'll start. I will continuously make eye contact with him or her and be aware of my own body language, making sure it is open, not closed. As for additional training outside of this classroom, I can observe real life sessions and look at some on the Net.

Blog #10

If money was no object, I would work on a project that helped younger writers. I am thinking about high schoolers. If they worked on their writing in good writing labs, they would be better writers by the time they got to college. This would probably eliminate the Composition I class.

Blog #9

I think I will use the minimalist approach when I have confident learners. I do not think I will use this method with ESL learners or persons with learning disabilities. I think the minimalist way may frustrate already frustrated writers even more. When I do use the minimalist technique, I will use it sparingly. I think it may be too strong for the average learner and then the whole purpose for the writing lab is defeated.

When a writer is a strong writer or has a strong personality, he or she will be able to take the badgering better than a shy or self-conscious person. For the less confident learners and most other students, I will take a more teacherly stance.

Blog #8 Minimalist Tutoring

It is difficult for me to say who would be the best candidates for minimalist tutoring because it seems to be a very direct, take no prisoners method. If I am just going to collect my pay and not really help out writers, this is the way I would go. This approach is rather cold as far as I am concerned, (of course I’m just learning).

There are parts that I would like to use, for instance; “Your paper has value as a piece of writing. It is worth reading ad thinking about like any other piece of writing.” That’s good. I also understand; “Don’t be an editor.” The “goal of the tutoring session is learning” and if a tutor writes the paper, the student doesn’t learn to write better. The “basics” like; sit next to the student, get the paper in the student’s hands, and having the student read the piece aloud all work well for my personality. However, after reading the chapter, I thought I might be being too hard on a student and that perhaps I could be a little more helpful opposed to so “down to business.”

So, to answer the question, I think a person who is a pretty decent writer to begin with would be the best student for the minimalist tutoring approach

Blog #7

The most important features of an effective tutoring session in my opinion are perspective and training. I think a tutoring session will be successful if the tutor knows what the writer needs and is able to address those needs, if not the session will be unsuccessful.

Improving my own tutoring methods involves me doing more sessions. Once I put some of the strategies to work I will be able to see what I am comfortable with and what does or does not work for me. In addition to me finding my own techniques, I need to tutor different people because individual students have different learning styles the same way that different tutors have different tutoring styles.

Addition to Blog 5

I learned from the reading in M & R that the first concerns are high order concerns. It is more important that issues dealing with thesis and focus, development, structure and organization, and voice be clear for the writer than the lower order concerns of punctuate, spelling, etc. When asked by my tutor what was the central issue of my piece, I had to think about what I was really trying to say. That question helped me to understand that what I wrote about was not really what I wanted to write about.
The strategy we used was talking aloud. I read my paper and then told her what it should have been about. I took notes and rewrote the piece now that I knew how to improve the paper.

Blog #6 Rethinking My Writing Center Philosophy

My writing center philosophy is ever evolving. At least I am now persuaded that writing centers are a good thing. That was not the case when I wrote about my own writing philosophy. I still like the look of what I proposed however, reading the North piece gave me additional insight on what a writing center should and should not be. I do think that a tutor must take on a role of a listener to hear what the learner's needs, weakness, and strengths are. I don't think a "cookie cutter" approach will work as no two tutoring sessions will be identical.