Reading Response Sep 16

Many of the statements in this weeks reading I found to relate to much more than tutoring. The first example that caught my attention was the willingness of the tutor to help and the willingness of the client to be there (7-8). If no one is willing to do anything then the whole idea of a writing center will automatically be set up for failure. However, this goes much deeper than a writing center. This is true for any kind of relationship in life.

I disagree with the statement "... the tutor has only hit-or-miss, trial-and-error experimentation to rely on - often at the student's expense" (7). I think this puts too much strain on the tutor. Most things in life begin with the process of trial-and-error. Without this method how do you discover any new ways of doing things? It is a common reflex for a person to try something else if their first idea didn't work.

Although I agree with the statement "Ultimately, successful tutors are willing to modify their views and procedures as new insights emerge" (7) I think it contradicts the claim that trial-and-error is not a successful method. However, a tutor who refuses to adopt any new method will not be able to help every student that comes their way.

I relate to the type of problems students who enter the writing center have. I am an English major and naturally write decent papers, but not everything comes to me as easy as writing does. Case and point is my first science class at college level. It was a disaster and I just couldn't do it. This naturally turned into not even trying to do it. I likely would of had a bad attitude in a tutoring session for that class much like people who struggle with writing do. Most of my problem was the fact that I always made good grades and never had to try too hard before and I struggled to accept the idea that I actually needed help. Murphy gives several examples of struggling students initial attitudes. I identified with one of them that read, "I've always made A's in English in high school, so I know iI should be making A's in college, too" (96). Reading this reminded me of that first semester of college.

The writers of this book have a very tall order for their ideal tutor. On page eight it lists the "traits effective tutors share... good intentions, strong writing and editing skills, flexibility, an eagerness to help, an analytical yet creative mind, a diedication to excellence, good listening skills, and ability to be supportive yet hones, a willingness to work hard, a sense of humor, sensitivity to others, careful judgment, patience, and a dedication to collaborative learning." WOW! This passage made my eyes open wide. On a good day most people do good to be half of these things.