Anatomy of a Fruitful Tutorial

The Anatomy of a Fruitful Tutorial: The Step-by-Step Dissection

Yunhan Xu 

Salutations

The very moment the Writing Center door swings open to reveal a slightly bashful student with essay woes, all tutors in the vicinity should greet that student with a warm welcome. The first step to exceptional service is a cheerful attitude and an inviting smile. If a student’s first impression of the Writing Center is positive, there is also a statistically greater chance that he/she will return for another tutorial.

Phrases to use:

“Welcome to the Writing Center! How can we help?”

“Are you looking for someone to help you with your paper?”

Setup

After you have greeted the student, set him or her up with a tutor. Though we understand that everyone has busy schedules and would love an extra study hall, please do not vocalize this in the presence of a tutee. Nothing makes tutees more uncomfortable than the belief that they are burdening their tutors.

Try to establish small talk while you are grabbing a Writing Center form (found in the tray atop the shelves by the bulletin board). This will help the student feel at ease conversing with you, especially if they are underclassmen.

Questions to ask:

“How’s your week been?”

“Did you see [insert TV show, sports event, etc.] last night?”

“Do you have any exciting plans for the weekend?”

Diagnosis

The diagnosis is the first writing-related section of the tutorial. An assessment of the tutee’s needs should not be limited to the paper itself. The better the questions you ask, the higher the quality of the tutorial. This process should also help you fill out the Writing Center form – make sure to write a brief summary of what the tutee would like to work on before you start tutoring!

Questions to ask:

“What class is this assignment for? Who’s your teacher?”

“What are the requirements for this assignment?”

“When is this assignment due? How much time do you think you’ll have before the due date to make revisions?”

“How do you feel about your paper so far?”

“Is there a particular section or aspect of your paper that you’d like to focus on today?”

“Has your teacher already given you feedback about your essay? What did he/she recommend that you improve?”

Read ‘n’ Feed

Read through the essay and offer positive and constructive feedback. Balance your criticisms with well-placed compliments – our role is not to micromanage every part of a tutee’s paper, but rather to offer helpful advice in broad strokes. Try not to read through a paper silently while the tutee looks on – be vocal! Engage the tutee as you read – point out great word choice as well as awkwardly-worded phrasing. If a tutee has expressed that he/she wants to improve a specific part of his/her paper (the conclusion, voice, etc.), try to integrate suggestions about that aspect of the paper throughout your reading.

Compliment/criticisms to combine:

“I really like the way this sentence sounds –the fluency and structure is great! If we could make the transition a bit smoother, it would sound even better.”

“This paragraph supports your thesis very strongly. The rest of the paragraphs should have specific examples just like this one does – I think that would make the whole paper more cohesive.”

Recommendations

Provide concluding remarks and suggestions. The intention of this advice should be to create tangible, overarching goals for the tutee for his/her revision process. If you noticed recurring weaknesses in the paper (redundant analysis, citation errors, etc.), mention this to the tutee. In the same vein, praise the tutee for the highlights of the paper! Combine your recommendations with reassurance about the paper’s quality, but don’t guarantee any letter grades – a splendid tutorial will not necessarily translate into a splendid grade.

Documentation

Write the verbal comments you gave on the Writing Center form while the tutee packs up. Don’t forget to record the duration, location, and period of the tutorial.

Sendoff

Give the tutee the white sheet of the form and encourage him/her to return! It’s also a nice touch to offer your email in case the tutee has any follow-up questions about the tutorial.

Phrases to use:

“It was a pleasure to read your paper!”

“I was very impressed with the points you made in this essay!”

“If you need some extra help making revisions, feel free to come in again!”

Tutor Training Continues

   

Tutor training is an essential aspect of the Berkeley Writing Center that often doesn’t earn the credit it deserves. After chatting with Writing Center Director Mr. Brandt, I learned about the importance of this key aspect in our daily lives as tutors. He explained, “Tutor training is important because what we do is important.” If we aren’t reminded of the practices we as Writing Center tutors should work on, our tutoring tends to suffer. Mr. Brandt says that tutor training stresses the importance of three key factors in a good tutorial: 1) filling out session notes completely, which ensures others have a good summary of the session, is a huge part of a tutoring session; 2) slowing down and conducting tutorials as if they are actual conversations, rather than mere perfunctory services, and finally 3) understanding the changes that occur in the English department.

 

Tutors Learn How to Improve Tutorials

 

Every Monday morning, Mr. Brandt meets with new tutors to ensure they understand these key factors that will help them succeed as tutors in the future. First, new tutors are expected to learn from the tutor manual, and discuss topics like how to conduct tutorials, how to encourage reluctant tutees in these tutorials, and how to take advantage of opportunities for leadership positions offered in the writing center later in their tutoring careers. New tutors are also expected to shadow older tutors, conduct mock tutorials, and pass a test based on the tutor manual’s material.

 

 

 Tutors at a Morning Training Session and in the Writing Center

In these Monday morning tutor trainings, new tutors learn about tutor programs like OWL and tutorials with Academy Prep. According to Mr. Brandt, the most pressing issue in the Writing Center is the fact that some seasoned tutors don’t have enough training sessions due to their busy Berkeley schedules. He tries to bring new ideas from writing conferences he attends, implementing them into our tutor training sessions. As tutors, no matter what grade, we should make sure that we practice important tutoring skills in our daily tutorials.

 

- Pooja