Turtoring Do's and Dont's

When a student makes a decision to find help with a tutor, they are putting trust into an absolute complete stranger to help guide them towards academic success. I don't believe there are good and bad tutors. I just think there are certain things that a tutor should and should not do. A tutor should always remember that they are there for their student and they should try their hardest to make sure the student leaves have learnt something new or different to help that with their academics.  As a tutor you are a guide, someone that is there to assist the student on a journey to find their strengths and help to build on their weaknesses.

TUTORING DONT'S

• Body language is a very big deal for students. if a tutor is slouching or looks uninterested in the students work, the student may become discouraged and not want to work. You always wanna keep your focus on the student. Don't constantly check your instagram or twitter. Don't constantly check your watch or phone checking to see when the session is over. Having poor body language can send the wrong message to the student and that can prevent them from learning.
• Remember the student is there to learn. So you shouldn't do the students work for them. Try not to keep a pen within reach so it wont be as tempting. Try not to overbear the students work with YOUR work. Remember this isnt your paper and your arent the tutee. They are there to learn and by you doing all of their work for them..are they learning or getting a free pass ?
• If your going to take on the jog as a tutor, make sure you take it as important as the student. Don't show up 15 mins late to a tutoring session. You'll just be wasting the learning time of the student and already before the session even starts the student may already get the impression that you dont want to be there or don't find tutoring to be important. 
• Try not to out speak the student. Of course conversation needs to happen in order for you guys to communicate, but it should never be a case to where the student has to fight to get a word in. Listen to the student, listen to what they think their problems are or what they are unsure about. Ask them open ended questions to get their thinking process started. You shouldn't have a session where you are lecturing the student, that's what their professor is for. 
• Always be truthful with your student. Never give them a false praise because it can confuse them. If you read your students paper and they have things they need to work on, tell them. Don't be rude about it but let them know what are key things they should start working on. I mean after all they did come to for help. If you lie and tell a student that they didnt something great but you know they really need help, their going to be confused when they get feedback from their professor that the paper could've been stronger because you told them the paper was perfect. 
• Make sure to keep the conversation focused on the work. Your relationship at the moment is tutor and student, not friend and friend. The conversation shouldn't turn into what you did last weekend and what party your going to tonight. Their should be no talk of boyfriends or problems with friends or family. Its a tutoring session, not a therapy session. If you feel the student is done with the task they came in with them work on something else they might be struggling with or brainstorm about other topics. Make sure you keep yourself and the student focused on the work at the hand. 

TUTORING DO'S

• Body language is also and important DO while tutoring. You wanna be attentive with your student. Show them that your listening to what their saying. Sit up and give them eye contact. Make sure they know they have your full attention while speaking. Dont overbear them with attention, I'm not saying to hover but show them that your their to work. 
• Give feed back to the student. If they have an area that their good in let them know. Give them strategies on how to work on the things they were a little rock with. Guide them into the right direction.
• Open ended questions are your best friend. Prompt the student with questions about their work. Maybe have them read it aloud so they can hear what their paper sounds like, or maybe read it aloud to them and have them take notes and discuss it after. You wanna push the student to try and figure things out on their own for times when you aren't there to guide them

There are probably many more do's and dont's that occur during tutoring, I just tried to touch on key things may occur often during sessions. My main point would be that we as tutors are there to help. We are there to  guide and assist and help the students clear up any foggy thoughts they may have had before they came to the session. The last thing you wanna do is send a student away without having learned anything or more confused leaving than they were coming in. Helping is part of the process, achievement is the main goal.

Understanding Composing by Sandra Perl

Question : What aspects of Sandra Perl's thinking seems to be the most important for you ?

In Sandra Perl's "Understanding Composing" there's a step during the writing process that isn't seen or can be recorded my writers. Some writers don't even know that their doing it. She called it "felt sense" which is this feeling that a writer can get at any point during the writing process that can help them determine which direction they want to take their writing. Felt sense is important because anyone can put words on a paper, anyone can follow the rules on writing and come up with a piece of literature. But if while writing you tap into your felt sense and take a step back from the paper and let what you feel take you where you need to go instead of just relying on your brain you can produce a deep and meaningful piece of writing. I'm not saying that you cant do that without using your felt sense, when you do use it..it can make everything so much clearer for the writer. Its letting your mind and body connect and using both the rules of writing and what you FEEL about whatever topic your writing about. The best part is you can always go back to it. If a writer was feeling overwhelmed or bored or lost with a topic, they can take a step back, take a deep breath and ask themselves "where do I want this to go?" "What am I trying to convey to my writer?" Once those questions are floating around in their brain they can relax and let the answers come to them. Let what you feel take over you and then let your pen do the rest.