Tutoring in the WRC

-
          Sometimes, as tutors, we come to the point where we stop acknowledging the importance of our work and how much it is valued by our students. Unfortunately, at this point, our work becomes simply habit which is problematic because we fall in danger of addressing every student’s need with the same style.  In the time that I have been working at the Writing and Reading Center, I have learned that not every student can be approached in the same manner because everyone has a different learning style. As a rule, one of the very first things I do to begin my session is try to create a comfortable environment for the student to ensure that they share any concerns, opinions, or suggestions with me. I do this by greeting the student in a friendly manner, introducing each other by name, and by engaging in small talk like describing how our day is going. Doing this procedure provides me with a basic overview of the student’s background and the  resources they might need. I keep this information in mind while developing my agenda or outline for the session to ensure that I cater to the specific necessities of the student. From that point on, I continue the session by reading the student. For example, I pay attention to their reactions, and expressions to create a session that best fulfills the student because I want them to leave better than how they came in. Moreover, this is a goal that we, as tutors should not only keep in mind but also act upon it.


By Juliebeth Lopez, WRC Tutor, Fresno State student


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome to the WRC

-
Image
We are excited to announce the start of our blog for the Writing and Reading Center at Fresno City College. We, the staff, tutors, and faculty, who work at the center are excited to share blogs with you weekly about different topics of writing and reading. Our hope is that you find this blog to be inspiring, and that it will push you towards greatness. That being said, I'd like to share with you a little bit about my love of writing and reading and why I work at the WRC I started here as a tutor in 2008 when I was working on my Master's degree. I had the opportunity to work here for 2 years before I chose to move on to a job on my seminary's campus. I came back after 5 years once my M.A. was complete and began work as a supervisor in April of 2015. I have always loved reading and writing. When I was a little girl, my older sister told me that once I started reading, new worlds would be open to me. She was right. From the time I could begin to read, I voraciously attacke...
Read more

Tutoring Students with Cognitive Disabilities

-
Tutoring adults with cognitive and developmental disabilities can be difficult. To me, it is especially hard to figure out if the person is trying to take advantage of you or if they genuinely need more help than the average student. In my experience, people with cognitive and developmental disabilities do not want to take advantage of you, they might even feel embarrassed about asking you many questions. Generally people who continue to ask you questions after a half hour to an hour session with them are the people who are taking advantage of you. It is important to try and stay patient with them but make it clear that you cannot right the paper for them. Now that does not mean that all people with disabilities are perfect angels, they still might try and get you to right the paper for them. The people who try to use thier disabilities as an excuse are the ones that can be the most difficult to tutor. I have actually had a student tell me, “I have a learning disability ...
Read more

Welcome to Spring 2020!

-
Image
          Welcome to the year 2020! We are in a brand new decade as well as a new semester. So this semester remember to consider all of your resources that can ensure your success as a student! There are so many resources you can utilize during this semester, the tutorial center is open and it is free. But I would like to mainly talk to you about the WRC located in the tutorial center. Here at the WRC we love to help students better understand the concepts for writing and reading. If you have a problem understanding your textbook, need help structuring a paper, learning how to take notes efficiently, or even understanding your Canvas the WRC is the place that you can get help. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, that’s what we are here for. Let’s start this semester with the intention to succeed! Hope to see you here soon! By Victoria Ford, FCC Student, WRC Tutor
Read more