My first tutoring experience

     When my professor first said the class will be tutoring ENG 099 students, I was a little nervous and anxious at the same time. Tutoring is still something so new to me that I didn't know how I would do or what the outcome would be. I felt like I was going to do horrible job at tutoring and that the student will know that I have no idea what I was doing. At first, I was so worried that I was not going to do an adequate job and that I was totally going to mess up this poor student's paper. 
     The day came when we were going to meet our tutee's and tutor them one-on-one. So I called my tutee's name aloud and she smiled when she heard it. I figured this should be a positive and exciting experience, for both, the tutee and myself. We sat down and I began by telling her to read aloud her entire paper to time and then the second time we went paragraph by paragraph. As she read aloud her paper, for a while I hadn't noticed any grammatical or spelling errors. Her introduction was well constructed and incorporated that article given to her by the professor. The article was about how ads, on subways and streets, send negative connotations to the wrong audiences and influence the younger generations into doing things that are not acceptable at their ages. 
     I understand that LOCs should not be a major issue which tutoring but I felt, being a perfectionist, that the tutee deserves to understand all the problem areas in her paper. I corrected about two misspelled words which were almost close to the actual spelling and asked the tutee what she meant or wanted to say in a sentence that didn't really make sense to me. She responded by asking my feedback and I told her if she wanted to correct it then that would be fine. The only critique I had for her introduction so was that she didn't make it clear for the readers what her thesis or argument was. Since the beginning of her second paragraph clearly stated an argumental point, I suggested to the tutee that she incorporate that argue to construct her thesis statement. She thought that was a good tip and used that advice to work on her thesis in her paper. 
     We went on to her second paragraph, which was her only body paragraph in her paper. There she had an excellent first sentence to begin her body paragraph and stood with that same topic throughout her paragraph. 
     Her next and final paragraph was her conclusion. She was honest to me and told me that she doesn't really understand what a conclusion entails. I told what it was and we began read it together. She had a good conclusion but she attempted to quote the author but in confusing way. She had one idea before the quote and the quote didn't coincide with the previous sentence that she wrote. It was basically two different ideas but I told her if I want to quote the author, you must make it clear in your paragraph. I told her that she didn't include her personal connection anywhere in her paper 
     Her overall paper was well executed and followed the guidelines closely to what is expected of them in the CAT-W exam. The only crucial mistakes she made was that she didn't have a clear and strong thesis and also that she didn't include the personal connection portion. I tried to help the tutee as much as I could and I even showed her my own CATW exam and some examples that was given to us by my professor. 
     At times, there was awkward silence between the both of us but we broke that silence and began discussing  our school experiences. I enjoyed my first tutoring experience with my tutee and look forward to the other two meetings we have. I'm glad to say that actually tutoring released any anxiety I had previously had and how non tormenting is was. 

Importance of the writing process

      By reading Sondra Perl's "Understanding Composing",  I completely understood what the writing process entails. Basically, the important aspects in her essay are as described: Felt Sense, Retrospective and Projective Structuring. All these are different stages of the writing process and should be taken into consideration when beginning and editing a paper. Her first contribution as described is the concept of "felt sense". Felt sense explains the way you feel about a topic before, during, and all throughout your writing process. Felt sense can be described as someone's gut feeling and what is someone's opinion about a certain topic. As said by Eugene Gendlin felt sense, "encompasses everything you feel and know about a given subject at a given time". Felt sense should just come naturally and in fact it calls for thinking deeply. Of course a paper cannot be written without a mind. Another concept of the writing process is the process of retrospective structuring. Retrospective structuring can be described as looking backwards and going back over your felt sense. It is also reviewing past drafts that the writer has previously written and looking at how you will incorporate and structure your paper for next time. Projective structuring is another process which is you (the writer) considering how the reader will feel when they are reading your paper. This can be done by putting yourself in their shoes and taking into consideration as to how they will interpret your paper and if they will understand it. All three concepts of the writing process; felt sense, projective and retrospective structuring intertwine but should not be misinterpreted as the same thing. In fact, as I recently discussed, felt sense, projective structuring, and retrospective structuring all had their own individual meaning and each play a crucial role in the writing process.

REVISION

               My school experience has been a challenging one thus far. It could be the best or worse twelve plus years of any students life. A time I reminisce and came to a conclusion to discuss would have to be about my three years in junior high school. I would have to say it was a frightening transition from an elementary school to a junior high school. As a child, I really did not know how to handle certain situations, so it was pretty difficult for me because everything was new to me; the people, the school, the teachers, everything. I can say as a twenty-three year old college student, that I am a completely different person than I was in middle school. I have learned to respect others and have learned through hard times of struggle, the aspect of priorities and knowing what is important. 
               My middle school had a variety of races, for example, Caucasian, Hispanic, Black, etc. I feel schools that have wide variety of races are more positive and have less racial issues amongst students. Schools like the one I attended believe in diversity which is extremely important and essential in New York City public schools. That is so because, students can get the sense of equality and understand that everyone is different in their own ways which is acceptable. Middle school was a tough experience for me. I was not exactly an honor roll student and back then school was not something that I really enjoyed period. In all my years of education I was always proficient in the subject of English and had immense difficulties in Mathematics; this still applies today. My highest point in school was when I participated in a middle school play called "Peter and the Wolf", which had the storyline of the well known children's story, "Little Red Riding Hood". I luckily received the part of the main character Peter. That was an exciting, yet challenging experience for me as a student. I had to not only continue concentrating in school, but also remember my lines in time for the date of the play. I felt important being the main character and felt like all eyes were on me because I was the star of the play. I am glad the play was a success and I performed wonderfully. This was the only upside and positive experience of my three years in junior high school. The worse was yet to come and I was blindly heading into them face first. 
              A very sensitive topic that I have not discussed or spoken about with anyone was that I was unfortunately made fun of my three years in middle school and continuing onto my first year of high school. Those were one of the most terrifying, lonely, and, undeniably embarrassing moments of my life. I would wake up in the morning and just feel so down, not wanting to wake up and go to school. In school, I would try to avoid the people that would torment me but we were in the same grade and we had the same classes. Everyday, I couldn't wait to hurry home and lock myself in my room. There I would just cry myself to sleep and wake up and do it all over again the next day. I never spoke to anyone about my situation and just kept it bottled in all my life. I would have never thought I would go through something that horrible like I did, and am so grateful that it ended in my freshman year of high school. I read so many books, articles, and have seen tons of news coverages on television about students bullying other students to the point where they refuse to live any longer and want hurt themselves. Thankfully, I knew that life was too precious to end so soon and it would have been selfish of me to leave this world so soon. That for me was the lowest point in school. Bullying is something that I nor many individuals do not tolerate and hate hearing about. I absolutely dislike hearing about situations like that because it comes from personal experience. 

             Bullying is something that should not be taken likely and anyone that is a victim of it should ask for assistance as soon as possible from a friend, parent, guardian, or anyone that they can confide in. I honestly wish that I can take back and erase everything that happened to me throughout those years. That was something that was so horrific and damaging to the heart, that I wish it never happened. It was a specific group of popular kids that were in on the bullying. From there, it became the vast majority of the school. This traumatic experience thankfully only occurred in school and not at home. I was so glad when I left school that all the bullying was left behind me but then it began all over again when I went to school the next day. My classmates would just say the meanest things that anyone can say to another human being. The students would call me "buck tooth" or "beaver" because of my gums and teeth and this would occur throughout the day and every day of my middle school.  I do not know how people can be so cold hearted and tease someone on a topic that is sentimental to them. Unfortunately, no one intervened to help because no one knew what was going on; just me and the people who were bullying me. I did not ask for help because I felt like at the time that no one would be able to handle it and I felt as if it were no use to ask for help. I dealt with this situation alone and kept it bottled in for four years of my life. I felt like I dealt with it the best that I could given the circumstance. I would not have been able to do anything unless I spoke with someone who was superior to the students, like a teacher or the school guidance counselor. At the time, I felt like the whole world was against me and that everyone hated me because I was different than the rest. This of course is still a very sensitive topic for me because it affected me a great deal and those times were the worse times of my life.

            I feel my bullying experience has made me the person that I am today. Even though it was a tough time for me I feel that now I became a strong, independent woman and I do not let things bother me easily.  I definitely would not tolerate any nonsense of bullying to me or anyone else that is involved. I hope that one day bullying can finally come to an end so individuals, like myself, will not continue to go through the same negative experiences I through in the past. I have learned from those experiences and as a prospective educator, I plan to use them to prevent students from bullying others in the school system. 

          

Tutoring Do's and Don'ts

Tutoring Do's and Don'ts


The Do's of tutoring I feel are as follows:
   

• Be patient with the tutee! There might be times where you will have to go over certain issues multiple times before the tutee finally gets it. 
• Let the student (tutee) read aloud their piece and let them figure out what the issues are and what the main point/thesis is in their writing. 
• Before beginning the tutoring session, ask the tutee is there is anything specific they need help on. Ask open-ended questions, not just yes/no questions. 
• Go over the criteria/guidelines for their writing assignment and make sure you both focus on the task at hand. 
• Remember to have good posture: sitting up right, being confident, and professional. 

The Dont's of tutoring are: 

• Do not be the tutee's "therapist"; do not discuss personal matters and ask what is new in their life.
• Do not answer phone calls or text messages during a tutoring session.
• Do not make corrections on the tutee's paper. I feel only a teacher has the right to write on a student's paper. 
• Don't use poor body language: yawning, stretching, slouching, fidgeting, etc.
• Do not ask to many questions at one time. Go slowly and ask questions as the tutoring session progresses and calls for questions. Be sure to focus on one issue at a time. 

 

Alyssa Garcia

Myself As a Student

     School overall is a challenging experience no matter how you put it. It could be the best or worse twelve plus years of any one's life. A time I reminisce about and finally came to a conclusion to write about would have to be about my junior high school years. It was a frightening transition from elementary school to junior high school. As a child, I really did not know how to handle certain situations, so it was pretty difficult for me because everything was new to me; the people, the school, everything. I can say as a twenty-three year old college student, that I am completely different than how I was back then in middle school. For example, I was picked on everyday in school and I did not know how to defend myself and an experience like that I kept to myself all those years. I now thankfully do not go through that kind of mistreatment anymore and if any case I would know how to defend myself and how to handle that situation. Not only that but I have matured since then and have come to realize over the years that I am getting older and have priorities as an adult and college student. Right now, school is my main concern and my number one priority. 

     My middle school had a variety of races, for example, Caucasian, Hispanic, Black, etc. I feel schools that have wide variety of races are more positive and have less racial issues amongst students. Schools like the one I attended believe in diversity which is extremely important and essential in New York City public schools. That is so because, students can get the sense of equality and understand that everyone is different in their own ways which is acceptable. Middle school was a tough experience for me. I was not exactly an honor roll student and back then school was not something that I really enjoyed period. In all my years of education I was always proficient in the subject of English and had immense difficulties in Mathematics; this still applies today. My highest point in school was when I participated in a middle school play called "Peter and the Wolf", which had the storyline of the well known children's story, "Little Red Riding Hood". I luckily received the part of the main character Peter. That was an exciting, yet challenging experience for me as a student. I had to not only continue concentrating in school, but also remember my lines in time for the date of the play. I felt important being the main character and felt like all eyes were on me because I was the star of the play. I am glad the play was a success and I performed wonderfully. 

     My interests have not changed from then to now, I still enjoy reading, writing, and listening to music. I spent most of my days doing that and not only did I read and write a great deal in school, I also engaged in my favorite hobbies on my spare time. 

     In school, individuals have their favorite and least favorite teachers throughout their entire education. I, on the other hand have had wonderful experiences with the majority of my teachers. Every one of my teachers have been strict, yet kind to each one of their students. There is a difference between excellent teaching and horrible teaching, whichever way will effect the students a teacher is teaching. A negative occasion I clearly remember was with my eight grade Math teacher, Ms. C. Not only did she yell at her students but she called us insulting names on multiple occasions. I remember it so clearly because that was one of the most complex and worse experiences of my life. All the students who had that teacher would let her know that she was out of hand. It was so bad that she was reported to the principle of the school and she was eventually fired from her position as an eight grade Math teacher. Her teaching skills were not sufficient, she would speed up the teaching of the material everyday, would not leave a window for questions for new and old material, and would not produce feedback for her students to help them get better in a subject that they might not have been good at. On the upside, one of favorite teachers was my sixth grade English teacher, Mrs. P. She cared a great deal about her students and did whatever she could to assist to her students. Regardless of the her life outside of school, like, being pregnant, having a husband, she made us one of top priorities. From the first day of our freshman year of junior high school she told us what her intentions were and that she would be there for us whenever we needed her. One of the positive reinforcements she had available was that she asked each of us to buy a composition notebook and that would be our journals for the year. In these journals, the students would be able to write what we did, what we want to do in the future, our experiences were for the day, anything we were thinking at that particular moment,  our struggles with whatever, like school or certain subjects, and whatever we wanted to write about to her. She would read them everyday and have them ready for the next school day; read and respond back to them. The students really loved her and her teaching. What she did for her students was so heroic because she mentored and facilitated conversations as much as she could with her students. In the future, it would be an honor to repeat and relive the strategies she used for my prospective students. I feel this strategy for teaching and also counseling was very effective. 

     A very sensitive topic that I have not discussed or spoken about with anyone was that I was unfortunately made fun of my three years in middle school and my first year of high school. Those were one of the most terrifying, lonely, and, undeniably embarrassing moments of my life. I would wake up in the morning and just feel so down, not wanting to wake up and go to school. In school, I would try to avoid the people that would torment me but we were in the same grade and we had the same classes. Everyday, I couldn't wait to hurry home and lock myself in my room. There I would just cry myself to sleep and wake up and do it all over again the next day. I never spoke to anyone about my situation and just kept it bottled in all my life. I would have never thought I would go through something that horrible like I did, and am so grateful that it ended in my freshman year of high school. I read so many books, articles, and have seen tons of news coverages on television about students bullying other students to the point where they refuse to live any longer and want hurt themselves. Thankfully, I knew that life was too precious to end so soon and it would have been selfish of me to leave this world. That for me was the lowest point in school. Bullying is something that I nor many individuals do not tolerate and hate hearing about. I absolutely dislike hearing about situations like that because it comes from personal experience. I have learned from those experiences and would use them to prevent students from bullying other students in school as a prospective educator. 

     That was myself as a student in junior high school.