The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento

One Time Wonders: 30 Minutes to an Hour
17
Alexander Ellyson
Grace Nicolas
Spring 2011
I am going to illustrate for you a common occurrence in the writing center. You are sitting in the
writing center lounge waiting for your next writer to arrive. They are late. It is now five minutes passed
the time your writer was scheduled to appear. Fortunately, there is a system in place that aids tutors in just
your predicament. This system will often produce for you a student who has not made an appointment. A
student who is often arriving at the writing center mere minutes before their assignment is due. A student
who is depending on you to do your best to save them from their state of panic. It may seem like a lot of
pressure at first. However there are strategies you can use to make these drop-in sessions, not just less
frightening, but fun!
Although there is not much probability for you to meet an hour long drop in, there is a high
possibility that you can have a one-time hour appointment. Despite the fact that you do have that extra 30
minutes, remember that he/she is not your regular and the goal is to either convince him/her to become a
writing center regular or give them tips to improve their overall writing so they understand what to be
aware of as he/she continues to write. Tutoring Writing discusses many ways to approach and tutor a
tutee. Although there are many methods to tutor, finding your own niche is highly recommended.
The following list contains advice that can be applied to both 30 min drop in sessions and 60 min
one-time appointment sessions. This article is now twice as useful!
Positive Attitude-
More often than not, drop in writers will come into the writing center nervous about their
assignment and worried about what you will tell them about it. In fact, most of the time, they will be far
more nervous than you are. So try to relax! If you can maintain a friendly and positive demeanor as you
approach the session, you will have better luck putting the student at ease. This will result in a more
productive session. This will become easier over time as you become a more comfortable and experienced
tutor. You must remember that drop in sessions are gifts to you from the writing center. Every drop-in
session is a learning experience that will help you become a better tutor.
Personal Introductions-
Thankfully, Sacramento State is a diverse community, so each individual you will come across
will be different; just start out by introducing yourself. Many may be nervous and/or embarrassed for
even signing up for help. Approaching them with ease, as you would your own friends, can help create a
comfortable environment for them to openly talk about their paper.
Prompt-
One of the biggest things you can do for a drop-in writer is to make sure that they understand and
have followed the prompt for their assignment. If they have the prompt, read it over and do a quick check
list of where they think they addressed it in the paper. Whether the writer has a prompt to show you or
not, you should ask them questions about their assignment. What is the main focus of your paper? What
goal do you think the professor is trying to accomplish by assigning this paper? The more they can
explain to you about what they are supposed to be doing, the better chance you have of guiding them in
the right direction.