Successful Tutoring Sessions

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Successful Tutoring Sessions
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Codes

• 10 distinct statements were used for coding
• 5 were associated directly to the student
• behavior
• actions
• 5 were associated directly to the tutor
• actions
• emotions

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Student
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Student shows desire to learn

• Cooperative
• Willing
• Wants to understand

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It was evident that the student was eager to
learn as much as he could.

• She responded that she was concerned with
  everything, from figuring out what she wanted to
  say to getting it organized on paper.

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Student trusts the tutor

• Comfortable
• Develops rapport

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• She felt secure enough with me to vent her
  opinions of the assignment without feeling that
  anything said would go back to the professor.

During the session, I observed her as she became
more comfortable and relaxed.
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Student has receptive attitude

• Attentive
• Interested
• Excited

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• She became energized about writing.

The student was involved and engaged throughout
the entire session.
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Student is able to provide information

• Brings assignment
• Brings text being analyzed

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As I filled out my portion of the of the session
form, she took out two copies of her paper as
well as the assignment sheet and a pen.

• She slid the assignment sheet and a stapled copy
  of her paper toward me. I skimmed over the
  requirements, looking for key words and ideas to
  look for in her work.

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Students attitude or knowledge changes positively

• Student feels more confident
• Student has learned

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Certainly, what I am doing in the writing center
will, or at least should, translate into better
grades however, my primary measure of successful
tutoring is knowing that the writer I worked with
left my session with more skills or confidence
than when he or she had walked into the center.

• Her countenance visibly changed she looked,
  well, proud of herself.

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Tutor
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Tutor reflects positively on the tutoring session

• Appreciated by student
• Confident about session

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This session was one of, if not the best, not
only because she felt very confident upon
leaving, but also because I felt confident in
providing her with assistance.

• He was very appreciative of our help. Then, I
  realized that a session I had considered a
  failure had been a success that led to another
  session.

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Tutor successfully communicates
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There is an interaction and a communication that
enable us as tutors to really feel the student is
learning.

• I simply listened and gave advice when I was
  asked. I learned that day that being a tutor is
  more than just proofreading papers. It is
  becoming friends with my peers, listening.

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Tutor provides higher order instruction

• Teaches prewriting strategies
• Discusses thesis and organization

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The majority of the session ws spent marshalling
arguments and brainstorming ideas for the essays.
The best aspect of this session was that the
student and I were both interested in both
topics, and we were able to deal with
higher-order issues like invention.

• Typically, my most successful tutoring sessions
  are those where the the writer has a clear sense
  of what ideas to present but are not sure how to
  do so because he or she does not write
  traditionally.

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Tutor feels comfortable with the student

• Knows the student

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He knew I had his welfare in mind, and I already
knew his temperament and writing ability.

• Because she was so cooperative, I felt even more
  relaxed than in any session it seemed as if I
  had tutored her before although I hadnt.

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Tutor provides lower-order instruction

• Teaches grammar and punctuation rules
• Reviews citation styles
• Discusses word choice

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In the final run through his draft, we discussed
the underlines and check marks I had made. We
discussed ways to make the sentences more clear.
We discussed phrasing and word choice.

• We focus on conversational speech, but our
  sessions do not leave out grammatical things like
  verb agreement and article use. He brings in
  idioms that he does not understand, and we
  discuss what they mean and how they are used. We
  also discuss phrases or sayings that have similar
  denotative meanings but slightly diffeent
  connotative meanings.

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Successful Tutoring Sessions