Observation Reflection 9/24

Observing my peer tutoring mentor for the first time really brought to life all that we have been learning in class. I found it interesting that, for the post part, my tutor (Christina) followed the steps that Longman suggested. The first student that came in to be tutored was writing a paper about beagles for a food/economy class. This student had seen Christina before and was noticeably comfortable in the environment. After greeting the student, Christina asked to see the rubric set by the professor to understand what he was looking for and to make sure she would be able to help the student. Once she looked over the rubric, Christina was then able to know what specifically should be included in the essay. She continued by reading the student’s paper aloud. Longman suggests to have the student read their own paper in front of the tutor and although I do think this is a good idea, I would rather the student have their paper read by eyes that have yet seen it. I noticed that this also allowed the students to catch mistakes without the tutor even bringing them up yet. This student’s paper was very well written and did not need any major changes. Christina went back to look at the rubric and made sure all the points were presented throughout the paper. 

The second student was also getting her paper reviewed for the same class as the previous student. Christina started the process the same way; she asked the student for the directions and continued to reading it out loud. While she read, she would stop and ask the student what she meant if she found something unclear. Together, they would try to come up with a way to better express the thought. After reading it, Christina asked the student if the health and economic factors of the subject were important and recommended expanding on those topics by creating new paragraphs for them. They reorganized some of the essay to allow the ideas to come together in a better way. Christina let the student know that there were ten minutes left of their session and asked if there was anything she specifically wanted to focus on during the remaining time. 

I found it interesting that Christina did not take notes on the papers and allowed the students to make any changes they wished to make. I found this to be important because it is, in fact, the student’s paper and their grade; the student should be the one to make the changes. I am excited to continue mentoring and hope to run into challenging sessions that will allow me to learn more about peer tutoring sessions.