First Tutoring Session

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!