The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento

Helpful Strategies
5
Savannah Cortino
Fall 2010
Tutoring is challenging and rewarding. Remember, before you actually tutor at the writing center, you
will gain valuable information and advice that will help you by way of the weekly class meetings. You
will learn techniques such as how to start a tutoring session and where to go from there. The articles that
you will read and discuss in class are designed to help the tutor, so read them and try to integrate the ones
that you feel fit your tutoring style. In this article I will be sharing some of those strategies I found
helpful, such as how to start a tutoring session and other tips that worked for me and I hope they will be
helpful for you.
Beginning the Session
When I first began to tutor at the writing center, I was nervous and unsure where to start in the tutoring
process. I discovered, however, that students were just as nervous and uncomfortable about sharing their
work with a stranger as I was about helping them with their paper. I found that introducing ourselves to
each other was a good way to begin the session. Sounds easy enough but sometimes we become so
focused on helping the student within the half-hour sessions that we forget to think about the person we
are working with. Showing interest in the tutee helps to set the tone that you are interested in helping
them and that this is going to require them to participate in the process. Asking questions, such as, what
can I help you with today, what class is the paper for, have they chosen a topic, or how far along they are
in the writing process for that particular paper? This not only helps the tutor to know what to focus on, but
keeps the ownership of the paper with the student. This helps both the tutor and the tutee to know where
to begin in the session and sets the expectations for the tutee to be an active participant. “I usually say,
“Well let’s work together,” and put the paper between us and begin the next process, working with the
tutee on their paper.
Guidelines for Student Assignments
Remind Students to keep those handouts that professors give them. Sometimes, writers don’t have a clue
as what to write about when they come into the writing center. When that happens, we should start by
asking them, what is the assignment? Can you show me the guidelines the professor gave you for your
assignment? This is very important. I learned that from personal experience. The tutee was so sure she
knew what the assignment was so we worked for a half hour on choosing a subject to write about,
organizing how she could present the information and then the next week when she came back to the
writing center, she showed me the handout with the guidelines on it. Unfortunately, the subject she chose
didn’t fit the professor’s guidelines so we had to start all over again to find a topic that fit within those
guidelines. I learned from that experience to encourage the tutee to keep the papers that discuss their
assignment so we can refer to them before starting to write a paper.
Don’t Forget the Paper!
Sometimes students forget to bring in the paper they are working on or the assignment sheet with the
guidelines. I worked out a method to help them remember. First, I would remind them to write it down in
their notebook or write it on their calendar. Then I would say right before they left, “I’m looking forward
to working on (whatever paper it was) next week with you.” I found that even with reminders some
students forget to bring their papers in the next week. So I began to bring in my appointment calendar and
tell them, “I’ll write it in my calendar too so we will be prepared to work on that paper together.” Not
only does this reinforce the need to have the student bring in their paper for the next session but it lets
them know that we are working together and it is team effort.
Finding Topics
When a writer is having a difficult time deciding on a topic to write about or doesn’t have a subject in
mind, we need to help the writer. I tried different strategies listed in our tutoring book and found that