Blog #4 Tutoring Experience

In my mock tutoring session, I learned some key aspects of tutoring-

a. Know the assignment!! Obviously, if you don't really know or understand what is being asked of you; how in the world are you going to provide it?!?

b. Ask the right questions!!!

If you don't ask the right questions, you won't get the right answers!

c. Try to draw out the student's focus piece during conversation. If the student and the tutor are somewhat comfortable, more information will present itself. Sometimes student's may not know how to organize their thoughts without "hearing" it out loud.

Notice the above points are not categorized by which party was tutoring and which was being tutored...guess what..... each person can learn the above regardless of where they sit!

In terms of who did the most talking during the sessions, I think while I was the tutor, the talking was pretty much equal. However, when we switched sessions-the tutor did the majority of the talking as she led me down the right path. While she did a great deal of talking, she also asked the right questions to draw out details of necessary points to be made during our session.

Either way, I learned whether you are a tutor or a student, the learning process doesn't end because you are in a position to help someone reach their academic goals.

In fact, the writing center is much more effective if the tutor and the student benefit from each session.