My second live tutoring session was simply amazing! I had to deal with the scary balanced dual session and as scared as i was, i knew deep down I can handle it.
I had to lovely students who were working on their sample CATW. They both had the assignment as well as the drafts on them so i asked them to hand it to me so i can read it over. I noticed that one had more writing than the other but then one with more writing was about the same thing just phrased differently.
I then asked them if they wanted it to be a group session or if they would like for me to alternate. One of my students gave me a little bit of an issue because when i asked they said they did not care so i decided to work with the other student first while i assigned student #1 something. S1 did not seem to happy about it so without freaking out (although i was an the inside) I said ok we are going to try this.
I decided to make the session a mix of group and solo discussion. I asked them both how did they feel toward the piece. I then asked them both to summarize their drafts for me. They both had a hard time in doing so and taking a mental note of it i asked them each to re-read the story and underline what they felt was important.
once they were done with that i asked them why they felt it was important. I then asked them to look over their draft and see if they wrote anything that related to those facts. They did. Then i alternated and asked one student to find anything else in the story they could write about that connects to their "thesis". In this case it was okay for me to work with Student #2 alone because S1 was occupied and understood why i needed to alternate at that point. I told S2 to name other reasons that she personally felt goes along with her thesis. Ex: S2 agreed and said that Dads helping in the house more makes them happier. S2 then mentioned that it makes the relationship more healthy. I asked why and she could not figure out why so i told S2 to look through the article and find a passage that will support their claim. They did and found it. I then asked what other reasons make you believe that your thesis is true. S2 gave me two more reasons but again had trouble in supporting. I simply guided the student to look through the article again to see if anything there supports the claim and if not they can also tie in personal experience.
I left S2 with that assignment and switched over to S1 who was struggling to find anything else. So i thought back to the Tutoring Writing book in which it talks about having a conversation with the student. I decided this would be the best tactic because S1 seemed to get anxious having to look through the article to find ideas. I simply had a conversation with the student and asked why they felt that dads were happier helping more in the house. The student based their opinion on personal experience and how their relationship with their dad was better because of it. I told them ok there you go there is one reason which is that it makes the dad closer to the child and your support is your experience. I remembered also reading in the article a passage that went with that so I pointed it out to the student and told them they could use that as well to make their claim stronger. I then asked the student what other reasons supports their thesis. They had a had time thinking of others so i assisted by asking questions like "Do you think it helps in the relationship in the sense that it helps a dad understand what a mom goes through?" The student replied yes and I said there is your second reason. Then I assigned him to look through the article and find the support for it.
I continued with the tactic going back and forth between both students. They came up with the other reasons on their own and the support for it all on their own. I was so proud and I told the both of them together that they both know what they are doing. It is in them they just have to not doubt themselves. I related it to myself and told them that I always used to doubt myself and once in a while I still do. But when I am confident and allow myself to be free with my opinions and writing that is when I do great work. I told them to have more confidence in themselves because they are smart and know what they are doing because they did.
I then suggested a bubble map or a tree diagram to help them visually see what they are going to write and this also helps them in how they are going to connect the reason to their support. They both asked me if they can work on re-writing their draft and of course I said yes.
I can honestly say that this session is what reminded me that this is what I want to do in life. That i am choosing the right career. Thank you to the professor that let us tutor his class and thank you Dr. JRC for helping us in preparing ourselves and giving us the confidence we needed. :-)
