As soon as I walked into the Learning Centre today I heard a voice tell me "Alyssa, you have a tutoring session booked. The student you will be helping is sitting right over there." I immediately became excited and a little nervous at the same time. I truly did not know what to expect because I knew that watching a tutoring session is completely different from experiencing it myself.
I quickly put my bag away and walked over to where the student was sitting. I introduced myself and we discussed what kind of help she was seeking. The student merely wanted to go over her essay and receive feedback. I think the student's willingness and eagerness to learn really motivated me to help her. I particularly liked the fact that the student started to identify her mistakes when I read the paper out loud. She would say "Oh, that doesn't make sense, does it?" and "I know what we could put instead." I think reading the paper to her really helped get her thoughts going. As the session continued, I found that she was starting to see the mistakes that I was seeing. Instead of reading her paper as a writer, she was reading it as a reader. I think this is ultimately the most significant strategy one could use. Toward the end of the session, I told her that if she is unsure of a sentence or paragraph, she should read it out loud. Chances are, if it sounds awkward, it probably is.
This experience was definitely a pleasant one and is something I would repeat in a heartbeat. At the end of the session, I felt relieved and proud at the same time. I felt that I had really helped the student out and that she learned new skills she could practice on her own. I was also very thankful that I got to help the student that I did because she was patient with me as well. I look forward to what the future has in store!
Cheers!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
So Far So Good
Today I was asked to write a blog about learning, which is actually something I don't reflect on very often. I kept asking myself "What am I going to write about?!" After all, this is my first blog entry and I do have to make a good impression. Then, after writing my first introductory e-mail to the rest of the online tutors, I finally got some insight as to what I wanted to write about.
Choices.
If there's one thing I've learned about this whole education thing, it's that choices really don't have to be all that difficult. All through high school people have told me to pick what I want to pursue as a career because I "can't do everything." However, I don't see much truth in that.
I think I can integrate all my threads of interest and make one big comfy sweater. In other words, my interests in music, psychology, media, and current affairs can be fused together through writing. Writing doesn't limit you to one topic or idea. Instead, it challenges you to probe for new and exciting issues that you feel passionate enough to either support or refute. I feel that this truly gives one a sense of his or her values and what he or she believes in. So truth be told, writing does not open a door, it opens many.
Now that I have my thinking cap on, I've come up with another issue to discuss.
Fear.
Upon my arrival at the Learning Centre I immediately felt a sense of hesitation. I felt like I was the 'new kid' and I had to do everything perfectly or else I would get frowned upon. There was no initial incident that provoked me to feel this way. In fact, I've never met a more welcoming bunch of people. Instead, it was a mental predisposition, the momentary thought that maybe I am getting myself involved with something I cannot physically do. Almost like the butterflies you get before you go onstage and perform a play: there's that one second of fear that makes you wonder if you will mess up or not.
Luckily, I snapped out of it quickly. I went over the training manual, did the activities in the booklet and even watched a couple of tutoring sessions. It wasn't until after the first tutoring session when I felt that little speck of fear begin to dwindle. I can do this, I thought to myself. Then when I was asked to write this blog I came to a conclusion: at the end of the day, I'm on the same page as everyone else. We're all here to teach, learn and discover new things. These three things are continuous; they never stop. Therefore, I can never be a step behind!
For someone who didn't know what to write about I sure had a lot to say, don't you think? ;)
Choices.
If there's one thing I've learned about this whole education thing, it's that choices really don't have to be all that difficult. All through high school people have told me to pick what I want to pursue as a career because I "can't do everything." However, I don't see much truth in that.
I think I can integrate all my threads of interest and make one big comfy sweater. In other words, my interests in music, psychology, media, and current affairs can be fused together through writing. Writing doesn't limit you to one topic or idea. Instead, it challenges you to probe for new and exciting issues that you feel passionate enough to either support or refute. I feel that this truly gives one a sense of his or her values and what he or she believes in. So truth be told, writing does not open a door, it opens many.
Now that I have my thinking cap on, I've come up with another issue to discuss.
Fear.
Upon my arrival at the Learning Centre I immediately felt a sense of hesitation. I felt like I was the 'new kid' and I had to do everything perfectly or else I would get frowned upon. There was no initial incident that provoked me to feel this way. In fact, I've never met a more welcoming bunch of people. Instead, it was a mental predisposition, the momentary thought that maybe I am getting myself involved with something I cannot physically do. Almost like the butterflies you get before you go onstage and perform a play: there's that one second of fear that makes you wonder if you will mess up or not.
Luckily, I snapped out of it quickly. I went over the training manual, did the activities in the booklet and even watched a couple of tutoring sessions. It wasn't until after the first tutoring session when I felt that little speck of fear begin to dwindle. I can do this, I thought to myself. Then when I was asked to write this blog I came to a conclusion: at the end of the day, I'm on the same page as everyone else. We're all here to teach, learn and discover new things. These three things are continuous; they never stop. Therefore, I can never be a step behind!
For someone who didn't know what to write about I sure had a lot to say, don't you think? ;)
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