The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento
The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento
The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento
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of reader theory, “where the reader, in engaging in reading out loud also engages in controlling the text by<br />
making continuous predictions about what will occur next, based on information obtained earlier, prior<br />
knowledge, and conclusions obtained within the previous stages” (73). In listening to their paper being<br />
read out loud, the tutee can engage in generating their own series of questions about their text, questions<br />
they would not necessarily ask had they not read their paper out loud.<br />
If the student is extremely resistant to reading his or her paper out loud, you as the tutor should<br />
engage in this portion of the session. However, reading the entire paper start to finish often becomes<br />
overwhelming. I suggest that you tackle 2-3 paragraphs at a time, taking care to stop occasionally to give<br />
feedback about what you have been reading. Tackling a few paragraphs at a time also gives both of you a<br />
great deal of more perspective about the paper as a whole. Reading out loud engages both you and the<br />
tutee in a conversation about their text, while offering the student a chance to talk openly about their<br />
paper.<br />
Collaboration becomes the trickiest aspect of tutoring. By this I mean collaborating together in a<br />
way that does not entail you as tutor talking the entire session, or making overreaching suggestions about<br />
the student’s text. Over the past semester I have worked with several students who seemed to have no<br />
problem speaking about their ideas fluently and eloquently during a session. However, the moment I<br />
suggested that they write down what they had just said, the student was unable to do so. I used a method<br />
of what I will call collaborative dictation where I would write as close as possible word for word what the<br />
student was saying during the tutoring session. In order to begin this process I would ask an open ended<br />
question and encourage the student to talk until they had nothing else to say, writing down all of their<br />
ideas word for word. I would also write the question at the top of my dictation notes so that the student<br />
would have a frame of reference when they went back to their notes and began writing. This method<br />
enabled students to orally “talk it out” and explain their ideas to me. By writing down their ideas for them<br />
using this dictation style students can compare their oral “words” to the written words of their draft as a<br />
starting point for revising their text. If this collaborative dictation method is used during a brainstorming<br />
session, the student has the beginnings of an outline that is written in their own words and expresses their<br />
own ideas.<br />
All of these methods are useful approaches to helping a student create a text that is completely<br />
their own. Before you start that next tutoring session remind yourself that the ultimate goal of the session<br />
is to help create better writers by enabling them to make their own decisions about the tutoring session<br />
and their writing assignments. Start the session by giving the tutee the power to decide what they want to<br />
work on. Keep the session focused on the writer’s goals by asking them problem posing questions about<br />
their writing. Listen and wait to hear what the tutee says before you talk. Engage in reading out loud as a<br />
way for tutees to hear their own voice, and take notes on what the tutee is saying. With regular critical<br />
reflection after each tutoring session, you will be an active tutoring partner who collaborates, not<br />
appropriates.<br />
Works Cited<br />
Brooks, Jeff. “Minimalist <strong>Tutoring</strong>: Making the Student Do All the Work.” Writing Lab Newsletter 15.6<br />
(1991): 1-4.<br />
Block, Cathy. Comprehension Instruction. New York: Guilford Press, 2008.<br />
Freire, Paulo. “Chapter 2.” Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Trans. Myra Bergman Ramos. New York: Herder<br />
and Herder, 1970.<br />
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