When Times Get Though

In my most recent tutoring experience, I suddenly became aware of not only how important it is to tailor your lessons to each student, but also to deal with the difficult students we don’t expect. As I was tutoring this international student, I recognized some of the typical characteristics we have studied in the session. Her paper lacked clear transitions and rarely possessed sentences that were analytical or connected her thoughts together. She was also reserved and was clearly embarrassed or less than pleased at having to ask for help. However, instead of being offended by her curt way of speaking or her serious demeanor, I was prepared for all these problems and was aware that her writing style and way of being were a reflection of both cultural differences and miscommunication. However, what I was not expecting was her unwillingness to work with me and her desire to have me do a lot of the work for her. As I worked with her, it slowly became clear that she had expected that I would not just provide advice, but would provide answers as well. At one point, when I was explaining to her that she needed to add more quotes and analysis, she said to me “I’m an international student, I don’t know how to do that.” Because the student was an ESL speaker, she not only didn’t have lots of confidence in her ability to write, but also thought that it was an excuse to allow me to do it for her. Although I was surprised, I continued with the session as best I could. I think that we often discuss the challenges we face as writing consultants with grammar, writing and commentary, but think it might also help us to keep the conversation going about how to deal with students when times get tough.

Pondering on Progress: What I have learned this semester

When I think about what I have learned this semester, it is almost hard to believe how different my approach has become. I have been working as a tutor for a long time, both with international students and English speaking students. Although I would like to still think I was helpful before, the way in which I handle a situation has become revolutionized. When I first started tutoring, I thought mostly about the way in which I would handle the situation if it was my paper that I was writing, whether that would be how I would formulate a thesis statement or how I would structure my own paper. Then I would try to get a student to model his or her paper in this way. Although I think that modeling can be a very effective method when working as a writing consultant, the problem with my approach was that it meant I was not focusing on each student’s individual needs and working with their style. Now, when I first sit down to work with a student, I first try to assess what the student’s top priorities should be, then also figure out what they want to work on and what they feel are the overall weaknesses they feel they need to improve on. Then when I am reading their paper with them and I come across a rough patch, I try to make it a dialogue about improvement, not just me dictating to them what they should be doing. Not only does this help prevent my point of view from influencing their paper too much, but it also helps to engage them more and make the session a constant conversation about writing their work, and what they want to express. Another large difference to my approach now is that I feel I have learned how to make the session that much more effective by preparing myself appropriately. It is interesting how much of a difference it really makes when you have read the student’s paper ahead of time and focused your thoughts by writing commentary. Knowing exactly what you need to address in the session not only makes you look more professional as a consultant, but also gives you the ability to prioritize. When I don’t do this, I find that I end up giving each student much more sentence level focused suggestions or broad general tips rather than addressing the most important concerns of the paper. I think there is also a certain pressure that each student feels when they are conducting a session. I know that I personally feel nervous in a consultation and am so concerned about wasting a student’s time that I am distracted when trying to reread their paper at the beginning. This way I am completely organized ahead of time so that no matter how nervous I get, I always have my commentary to help me refocus.

Even though I spend much of my time tutoring international students, I think it is in this area that I have seen the greatest change in my approach. Working with international students is always a challenge because it is necessary to have a separate approach altogether. Learning about the different facets of this approach has helped me to specialize my approach even more. I think the information that I have learned that has made the largest impact is becoming aware of not only the differences between ESL students and native speakers but of differences among ESL students from various areas. I think that more than anything, being aware of this has helped me to completely tailor my sessions to fit the needs of each individual student.