No two tutoring sessions are the same. There isn’t a script to memorize. Tutoring is improvisational because no two writers, tutors, schools, papers, or days are the same. Even though all sessions are different, you might see how they are somewhat similar in having the following basic parts.
The session begins when the writer arrives. The writer may be nervous, so it’s a good idea to try to make them feel welcome and comfortable. You might say something like:
“Hi! Welcome to the Writing Center. My name is Bennett, and I’ll be working with you today. How has your day been so far?”
It is also a good idea to tell the writer what will happen in the session. This will help set the expectations. You might say:
“Just so you know, we will have 20 minutes to work together. We’ll start by figuring out what you want to work on, we’ll read your writing together, and we’ll have a conversation about it. It’s your paper, so you are in control and will make the changes you want to your draft. Do you have any questions before we start?”
Next, you’re going to want to ask some questions so that you understand what the writer is working on, where they are in the process, and what kind of feedback they want. If you skip this part, you might not give very good feedback. For example, it would make a big difference in how you respond if a writer has to turn in the paper in two hours or if the writer has two more weeks. So, you might ask questions like:
What are you working on today?
Do you have specific parts or issues that you want to focus on?
Do you have a due date?
If the writer is writing an assignment for a class, you might ask to see the assignment and review it with the writer at this stage.
Based on the answers to the questions you ask, you should make a plan for the session. Think about what the writer wanted to focus on and start with that. Check with the writer that you’ve understood by saying the agenda out loud:
“OK, so I hear you saying that you want to focus on the last two paragraphs of this draft because you don’t know if they fit with the rest of the paper. In order to see if they do, we should probably read the whole draft together. Ready to start?”
Here the writer might say “yes,” or might say something like, “Oh, I forgot, my teacher also said I need to work on apostrophes.” So listen, adjust the agenda, and state the new agenda.
When the writer already has a draft, most of the session will be reviewing the draft together and discussing the issues that the writer wanted to work on. In many writing center, tutors read aloud the draft during sessions to help keep writer and tutor focused on the same part and because for some writers, reading out loud helps them hear errors like missing words, wrong words, or wrong word endings.
You may want to read the whole draft together before moving on to the next step (noticing), or you might want to pause at the end of each paragraph or page.
Here’s where you help as a tutor. You are a reader who can notice what is happening in the writing and draw the writer’s attention to it. Your super power is paying attention to your thoughts as you read.
You will want to offer praise for the parts that impress you.
You will want to ask questions about the parts that confuse you.
You will want to offer suggestions on the parts that seem weaker.
Of course, you have limited time, so you cannot praise, ask questions, or make suggestions about every sentence. You’ll read more about triage—deciding what is most important to address first—but for now remember your agenda. Make sure to address what the writer wanted to work on.
If your writing center has specific time limits for sessions, pay attention to the time while you are working with the writer. When there is about five minutes left, announce to the writer that you’ll need to start wrapping up. It is a good idea to take a few minutes at the end of the session to help the writer remember what you discussed during the session and make a plan for what they’ll do after the session. You might say something like:
“OK, we talked about those last two paragraphs and you said you’d like to add some examples. We also talked about when to use apostrophes to show possession. We didn’t look for missing apostrophes in the whole paper though, so that might be something you want to do before you hand this in. Do you want to take a minute to write yourself a note on what you want to do next so you don’t forget?”
Then you’ll thank the writer for coming in and welcome them to come again.
Draft out a greeting and explanation of tutoring in your own words that would be specific to how tutoring works in your writing center. Practice saying this to yourself or to another tutor until you become comfortable.
Watch the video below and notice how it follows the outline above. Can you see each of the six steps? In what ways does it not follow the outline above?