I have to say, that observing the writing center has been alot of fun, but really weird at the same time. Some of what I have discovered in the writing center has been good, but alot of it has been really bad. I am curious to know how exactly the tutors will feel about the way I help students. More importantly, at the end of this semester, will I be the same or be a different person?
When I work with somebody, I want to come off as very warm and laid back. I want my clients to feel comfortable and open when we go over their papers. I can't say that I see any of this at all in the writing lab. The tutors there, are very loud and act as if they are in a rush. Whenever I walk in, the first thing that I usually see, is two or three of the tutors eating and drinking or reading their facebook on the computer. As soon as a student walks in, they walk over and ask them if they need help. They grab the students paper and began to make corrections on it.
Whenever the tutors in there have a conversation with the students, they talk really, really loud. Loud in a way that I do not understand or could ever comprehend. I could walk outside the classroom and into the hall and still be able to hear them. I think it's annoying to talk that loud, but this is just my opinion. I try to be very soft and quiet. When somebody meets with me and I talk to them, it is just between me and them, not the entire class! I understand that it is a very small class, and it's not as if the two of us are supposed to be meeting in private(we're not), but I just don't see a need to speak that loud. I would feel embarrased if the tutor I was with started talking like that.
Often times, some of the individuals who come in here, are in a real big hurry, and act upset, if they don't get their papers looked at. They will even come in abut thirty minutes before the paper is due! Not all of the students are like this. Sadly enough, I see the tutors acting like they are in a hurry, as if they don't care about their clients. This I cannot understand. They do not ask questions like I have been taught, but I guess they don't see a need to build any kind of relationship like I do. At the end of the meeting, I wonder what was learned between the two of them.
I hope that I will come off as a patient and kind tutor, who is interested in learning about the students ability to write, but one who takes the time to listen to what the client says, if they say anything at all.
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I don't mind the eating as much as I mind the Facebook, personally. I mean several of those tutors are in there for hours on end, and I guess as long as they aren't eating while working on someone's paper (like if they eat at one table and then move to another table to help the student), it doesn't bother me. But being on Facebook and playing games online looks extremely unprofessional. I have to admit, though, I've been guilty of it a few times, so I guess I can't be that harsh. But your comment made me think about just how bad it looks, and I'll avoid doing that in the future.
ReplyDeleteThere are only one or two tutors that talk really loud the times that I'm in there, but I think that would make it really hard to concentrate if I were the student, because so many discussions can be going on at once. I've noticed the rushing too. I think a lot of the tutors use that time as a study hall and forget that they're tutors first, then students, at least while working in the writing center. They're paid to be there... They should do the work and do it right.
I think that you're going to be a good tutor, Zach. You've shown in your blogs that you really think about your actions and the impact they're going to have on the students, and as long as you keep that mindfulness I think you'll be a wonderful and popular tutor.
It sounds like maybe some of what we need in the writing center are tutor leadership roles: We need constructive, writing center-focused work for tutors to be doing when they aren't working with clients. Not that I have a problem with tutors taking a break to check Facebook or email a friend or even work on their own homework; part of the appeal of a student work position like the writing center is that, when you aren't busy, you have a chance to be a student yourself. But if the downtime leads to people not feeling like they're at work, and therefore not being professional when clients are in the writing center, in that case, we probably need to address the issue of what to do with downtime.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Crystal: I think your blog posts really show your concern for developing effective client relationships. I think you're going to be a very good tutor, one whose clients will long remember him.