Tutor vs. Tutor Script

Tutor vs. Tutor

English 99 student, Mary Jane walks timidly into the writing center. She signs in and is assigned to Dr. Jekyll. Dr. Jekyll walks past Mary Jane quickly and directs her to follow her.

Dr. Jekyll: Where’s the paper? I only have 30 minutes to review it before my meeting!

Mary Jane looks for her paper frantically and finally locates it in her disheveled bag

Dr. Jekyll: Could you hurry up I don’t have all day. Time’s a ticking as she points to her watch.

Mary Jane: timidly Here is my paper. I don’t know if I am doing the assignment properly

Dr. Jekyll: Are you are college student? The Writing Center does not write papers for students.

Mary Jane: timidly Yes, I am practicing for my CATW examination. This is a practice test.

Mary Jane hands the paper to Dr. Jekyll

Dr. Jekyll: I can already see there are several errors. I see comma splices, run- on sentences, fragments. This needs a lot of work!

Takes out red pen and begins marking Mary Jane’s paper.

Mary Jane: Um. Can you use a different color?

Dr. Jekyll: Red is my color.

Continues marking up the paper

Mary Jane: I thought you would help me. What am I doing wrong?

Dr. Jekyll: Everything is wrong. Your ideas make no sense, your topic sentence sucks. This conclusion is trash and that is where this paper belongs! Gets up and throws it in the garbage. I need some coffee.

Dr. Jekyll takes a sip of her coffee and suddenly becomes Ms. Hyde.

Ms. Hyde: When did you get here? How may I be of assistance?

Mary Jane looks confused

Mary Jane: Um, I um gave you my paper and you said it was all wrong. Then you threw it in the trash.

Ms. Hyde: Sometimes I get a little dramatic when I haven’t had my coffee. Let’s get that paper and see what we can do.

Mary Jane goes and retrieves the paper from the trash can.

Mary Jane: Here it is.

Ms. Hyde: Can I see the prompt from the practice examination?

Mary Jane goes into her folder and retrieves the prompt.

Ms. Hyde: I am going to take a few minutes to read over the prompt. Take this time to re-read your essay and see if there are any areas you can correct on your own.

Mary Jane reads over her work as Ms. Hyde reads the prompt.

Mary Jane: I think I need help structuring my ideas. It seems like they are all over the place.

Ms. Hyde: That’s a good observation; let me take a look at your work so that I may assist you.

Mary Jane: Ok. Thank you

Ms. Hyde looks over the work and sees that Mary Jane does have structuring issues.

Ms. Hyde: I see that you were correct in your assessment of your work. I can help you. Have you ever used an outline?

Mary Jane: Not really. I don’t know how to create one. I normally just wing it.

Ms. Hyde: Well, ask yourself what is the significant idea of the prompt. Then choose three main ideas from the prompt to support your ideas. Take out a sheet of paper.

Mary Jane takes out a sheet of paper and a pen.

Ms. Hyde: In com

My Third 'Live' Tutoring

My third session of tutoring was a bit challenging compared to the first two. The students were working on a CATW example. This prompt was about junk food and advertising. I started off by asking a student if he needed help even though he already had a tutor. He agreed for me to help. I guess he wanted a second opinion on feedback. I reviewed his paper and commented on his good supporting details and summary.  Implied that he needed a conclusion because he did not have one and he replied that the last tutor gave him the same information I provided him with. Then I reviewed an absent students' paper and wrote comments on the low order concerns. Since the student was not present, I couldn't asses the higher order concerns as much because I couldn't understand the students' writing. My comments were short such as compliment ting on the good ideas provided and  fragments and run-on sentences are recurring. The challenging part was when a student that I tutored before showed up. He came prepared this time and asked if I wanted to see the assignment sheet before I can say anything. He handed me his paper, and before i read it, he explained why the structure was so disorganized. I was surprised to see his paper and had to ask what happen. He admit to coming late and falling asleep while writing. I informed him that I will see if I can work through it despite the major errors. There was about six paragraph and each consisted of one run-on sentence. Some details were relevant, but many clearly showed that he was 'babbling'. I tried to see if he can connect all the paragraphs and came up with a concept. I created an outline. I asked him to tell me what he would write in his introduction and took notes and the main topic he stated. I took notes on everything he was saying and created the structure of his paper. He comes up with better ideas when he talks about it aloud.

My Second 'Live' Tutoring

I had my second 'Live' tutoring session which had me go in with a bit more confidence. Unlike the first session, I was able to tutor two students. The first student's blog had the proper structure of what is required from the assignment such as the main point. a reflection and evidence to support their opinion, but needed a brief summary. She did not explain what the article was about nor did she write the title. She provided me with paper and asked if we can take notes because she felt like there was going to be many mistakes once I mention "grammar". What made it difficult for me to read her paper was her grammar. There was a language barrier with her paper but she was able to explain what she meant as I asked her to read the sentence(s) that I did not understand. I was able to get some understanding but asked her to reread the entire paper for grammar and fragments while I assist the other student. The second student I tutored had two papers for me to review but I explained that I only had time for one. She started with the paper that needed more improvements. She explained that both papers have been reviewed but she wants to work on a final draft. The paper was well written and did not need too many corrections. She had problems with run-on sentences, she had too many commas. She had strong evidence which helped wrapped up her conclusion. I asked her to reread her paper to correct her run-on and make sure she wrote what she expected to say. Meanwhile, I checked with the other student and she decided to work on another paper since she was behind. I asked for her assurance and advised her to ask me if she had any questions. I went back to the other student and had an opportunity to read her second paper in which she explained that she worked the hardest on. After reading the paper, I was able to see the difference in her writing and the effort put. It was a good paper but she still had a few run-on sentences.