Hey folks! Some good participation here. I'm so happy to see that this little community is growing. If you haven't done so already, please post! We'd love to hear what you have to say.
I'm wondering today how many of you work at colleges where tutors, either officially or unofficially, double as mentors. Here at Redacted College (not the actual name; it's a joke), we don't have much in the way of an academic mentorship program, so the closest we come is probably the tutors and supplemental instruction leaders that I train and supervise. There are campus leaders who get involved with campus activities, clubs, and so on--but this isn't academically focused. The closest thing we have, really, to students working with students to achieve long-term academic success is tutoring.
Does your college have a more focused mentor program that helps students in this area? Or is it more like Redacted's, where we don't really have something like that? Tutors wear many hats, of course--is mentor one of them for you?
Friday, November 18, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
Student attitudes
Hello, intrepid tutors everywhere!
Today's topic is that of the attitudes students bring to the table when they sit down for a session with you. I think what determines a tutee's level of engagement and attitude is their purpose for being there in the first place. If they are attending a session at the behest (or requirement) of their classroom instructor(s), they may present themselves differently than if they are there of their own accord. Of course there is a great deal of fluctuation at play here, and there are no sweeping generalizations that address this issue. (Stupid joke: There are never any sweeping generalizations that work--not ever!)
I wonder if you've had any tutoring experiences wherein the tutee's attitude was not what you expected. And, if the tutee's attitude isn't what you consider productive, what are your "disarming" techniques? How do you coerce someone into participating when s/he really just doesn't want to engage with you?
Today's topic is that of the attitudes students bring to the table when they sit down for a session with you. I think what determines a tutee's level of engagement and attitude is their purpose for being there in the first place. If they are attending a session at the behest (or requirement) of their classroom instructor(s), they may present themselves differently than if they are there of their own accord. Of course there is a great deal of fluctuation at play here, and there are no sweeping generalizations that address this issue. (Stupid joke: There are never any sweeping generalizations that work--not ever!)
I wonder if you've had any tutoring experiences wherein the tutee's attitude was not what you expected. And, if the tutee's attitude isn't what you consider productive, what are your "disarming" techniques? How do you coerce someone into participating when s/he really just doesn't want to engage with you?
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