Co-tutoring Observation

In my final week observing and co-tutoring, I feel I learned more than I have in the past three weeks of sessions. Sean's first student, his weekly session with football player Cole, went exceedingly well, as Cole came fully prepared with an assignment to work on from class. His task was to write a personal narrative, which he'd never done before, so he wasn't really certain where to start. I explained that a personal narrative is very different from a regular essay or research paper, as it requires more of the author's personal voice to be invoked and it doesn't have to stick to any real introduction-body paragraphs-conclusion format. He said he was unsure of what he should write about, so I suggested that he choose something he's passionate about to write on, as I always feel my writing is better when the subject is something close to my heart. Sean brought up football, which Cole decided was the perfect subject for his narrative. He asked what about football he should write, to which I responded by asking if he had any particular memories from football that stood out in his mind. He said he did, and began to formulate his first paragraph. Sean and I sat in silence for a few minutes while Cole worked, and once he'd put his pen down, I asked him where he was taking us with his story. He began to read his writing aloud, and it was actually great! He'd started in media res, writing about a major football game that his team had lost. Once he'd finished, though, he said he had no idea where to go with his story next, and I offered the idea of describing how football makes him feel, about how to some people (like him) it's not just a game. Sean chimed in, explaining that reflection is often useful and effective in writing, so reflecting on his memory of the football game would be a good idea as well. At this point the session time was up, so Cole packed up and left, and I felt our time had been used very successfully. I talked with Sean about how Cole had taken a little while to write, and I wasn't sure what I should do as I didn't want to interrupt his process but I also didn't want to just sit there without helping him. Sean said it's about knowing when to "break the silence," and he's found that sometimes, it's more effective to just let the student take their time writing.
Our next student was Hayley, who came in wanting assistance with a paper she was writing for her senior seminar. Sean began reading it aloud, working through the paper from the beginning all the way to the conclusion. We helped her figure out certain parts where she needed to elaborate on an idea or be more explicit. One thing I noticed Sean did quite a bit throughout the session was asking Hayley if she was ready to move on. I definitely think this an important aspect of tutoring, as sometimes students may be shy about admitting that they are confused or have a question. Hayley left feeling very confident about what she needed to do with her paper, and I felt our second session was just as successful as our first.
Sean's third student actually didn't show up, unfortunately. This is the second time that a student hasn't come to a session with Sean, which has actually helped prepare a bit for when a student inevitably does that to me. After this week of co-tutoring, I feel very ready to begin peer tutoring on my own.