Observation 1

July 11 2013
Observation Session
1 Hour

This was my first time observing a tutoring session in the writing center and I was able to observe two different sessions with different tutors and students. Both tutors graduated from LAGCC a few years ago and they are full-time tutors. Both tutors were male and hispanic and they both tutored students that are not native English speakers.

SESSION 1

The first session lasted 32 minutes but the rest of the time we spoke and he gave me plenty of advice. He told me that I am not expected to know all the answers and that it all depends on my personality. He introduced me to the student and explained he had been in my position a few years ago when he took the ENG220 class. In this session, he tutored an Asian student that has difficulty with grammar and vocabulary. He has been tutoring her for over two semesters and he is aware of her strengths and weaknesses. They went over two assignments she had, a journal entry and short essay. He focused on her grammatical errors because that is the only area she needs help in. She carries a dictionary and a translating machine to help her increase her vocabulary. When I asked why he focused on grammar when we're told not to, he answered that he's been working with her a long time and that she doesn't need help with anything else. She is a good writer with good structure and ideas, therefore he gives her tips and helps her with the grammar issues. He mentioned that this is not encouraged but he does this in certain sessions in which there is nothing else to work because he wants to help the students improve. This was a student-centered session and he never gave her the answer, he asked her what she did wrong and what she thought the correct way of fixing it was. She had the same issues occurring over and over so she was able to learn quickly. She struggles with prepositions and articles, both which are difficult to teach because to most English speakers, we have memorized and simply know how to use them. In this case, he helps her by practicing with her so that she will get used to using prepositions and articles correctly. This tutor did a great job and he admitted that since he does not simply give students the answers, sometimes they get frustrated. He advised me to be patient and calm when facing a difficult student and never do the work for them even if they get angry or walk out on me. One last piece of advise was to not take anything personal, sometimes students and tutors doesn't match because of their personalities.