Key Concepts

I've used multiple techniques that we've discussed in class in my tutoring sessions, but what they all seem to come down to is reflection. Yancey, in her piece "On Reflection," describes reflection as a "growth of consciousness," (4). Essentially, she claims reflection (in the context of writing) is the process of both looking back at what we have accomplished, as well as looking forward towards a goal, and then putting those perspectives into conversation with each other, thus creating knowledge and insight. When I ask my students to tell me what their essay/paper/etc. is about, they are reflecting on what it is they have already written (or think they have written) by summarizing their thoughts and arguments. When we begin to read their piece aloud and catch mistakes or areas that need improvement, they are participating in another aspect of reflection: revision. When we near the end of the session, and we look at everything we've changed or fixed in the paper, we take part in reflection again as the student looks forward to how the piece will be improved after they make the necessary revisions. After the student leaves, having put their previous work and their future work into conversation with my help, they have gained knowledge about themselves as writers, as well as about their writing. If you think about it, the entire peer tutoring process consists of reflection; Yancey was definitely right on the money when she wrote, "reflection is a critical component of learning and of writing specifically" (7).