Journal 9
Journal 9
The Center was closed on Tuesday, but on Friday, I met with my ENGL 121 student. We began going over her next essay and brainstormed ideas for the topic. Then, we went over structure and reading strategies to better understand the prompt. I assisted a new student with revising a paragraph about the incorporation of Chicano culture in a practice paragraph and a different student with defining the warrant and grounds of her debate topic.
Summary: My ENGL 121 student was more positive this week and upbeat. She had better focus, paid greater attention, and was able to better grasp her assignments. Both of my new students were through Zoom, and I was able to make the first student laugh while also creating a connection with my second student. Both of their assignments were short, so luckily I was able to spend more time walking through their individual assignments even though we were only scheduled for half an hour, and they seemed to understand where to make corrections to their work even without my prompting.
Challenges: My ENGL 121 student was grappling with a confusing essay prompt, and in order to even begin answering some of her questions, I first had to read through her course materials. When essays are dedicated to specific subject materials, it can be more time consuming as I have to first get acquainted with the specific material before I can properly understand and advise on the essay itself. Even with the second of my Friday half hour Zoom session, I had to reacquaint myself with the difference between warrants and grounds despite being familiar with the Toulmin Schema. This takes away valuable time, but more importantly weakens my ability to give pointed advice since I have to rely on my immediate understanding of the material.
Ideas or theories: Creating the opportunities for laughter in my Zoom sessions has seemed to benefit both mine and the students' experiences with the tutoring sessions. For example, after I opened up by asking about their day--even just for a brief second--they seemed more responsive when I then asked them what we were working on today. It also offered me a stronger transition since I could piece together how they were feeling to better adjust my own responses to them. I cannot depend on body language or even tone to the extent that I am used to face to face, so gathering this information explicitly at the beginning has also helped to draw my attention better to their mood.
I have mostly observed collaborations between the front-desk staff and the interns as both sides communicate information to each other. The tutors are less collaborative as their jobs are less conducive to collaboration, but from time to time they may ask for advice from one another.
Email and Canvas function as the main modalities of technological communication between the different group collaborations. This is also how asynchronous work is done, though most of the work is handled on site at the URWC.
For the most part, I have had to be aware of managing the different habits, viewpoints, and goals of the students I interact with more than anything. I have learned to first ask for clarification and guidance from them before I jump in with advice. Every student is seeking something different, and it is my job to provide what they need, not what I think they should have.
While I have not received feedback from fellow tutors, I have tried to ask the students whether the way I am explaining things is working. I also gauge by their mood whether they have been responsive to my comments. I try to take every interaction as another step towards improvement, constantly reflecting on ways each interaction could have gone better.