Yesterday on March 20th, 2012 I went to the writing center to observe how tutors in the center acted and worked along-side writers to improve there writing. I saw a lot of things that were interesting and yet, things we've talked about in our previous classes. For instance, I viewed that the tutor read aloud with the writer the questions at hand, along with the answers that they were taking down. The tutor asked many questions [mostly about the thesis] and have the writer find supporting information in the actual text to help their work. They also made the writer jot down important points to improve their writing at home so they wont forget what was talked about in the center.
The tutor made the writer talk about all their opinions and ideas which allowed them to get an idea of what they were working on. Then putting those spoken words in their work.
Through out the entire time between the two students the tutor was working with, she never stopped asking questions to get the student to write and talk as much as they can. She spoke slow, and comfortably to let the writers know/ feel comfortable about writing and talking with her. Showing a sort of equality between them, instead of having a tutor speak and/ or treat them like "underlings".
What I found interesting was that the tutor asked both writers when the paper was due, which I found interesting because the two students I was observing had completely different answers. And lastly what i found interesting was that the tutor made it clear to switch lines and words around but not telling them where to place them, but letting them know, that it was a particular sentence or phrase and moving it to a more understandable place in the text.
Sounds like you had a good first visit. I sometimes forget the importance of talking slow. I like that you observed the use of Talk and Writing. What were the student answers to when the papers were due? Why did you find that interesting?
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