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I have now finished my writing pedagogy course, and I feel that I must reflect upon what I have learned; how can I explain this new want I have to help others with their papers?  And even more so, how can I go about perfecting my new position as a writing tutor?

I have to be honest readers: I am afraid!  I tutor at home, au pairing a 7th and 8th grader, and there is nothing worse than studying a few hours with one of them and see them bring back the test, D+ in hand.  What's often worse, however, is the look on the parents' faces...

How can I perfect this art of consulting?  How can I become fully comfortable and stable and present in all of my sessions?

First, I firmly believe in presenting myself calm and incredibly confident.  If I question myself, then my student will as well.  Second, I will prepare myself for each tutoring session; no paper will be unread, unedited, ignored. And third, I will listen extremely carefully.  Nothing else is that important; it is only through active listening that I may acquire the talent to find where the student is having the most trouble, and tackle that.

I look forward to meeting new people, new minds, and voices.  I look forward to working with my peers and others outside the norm.  However, most importantly, I am looking forward to learning and growing as my own person; becoming a writing tutor is something I am very fortunate to have achieved-- and now, comes the difficult part: making myself and others proud.

"DR. ABC" and "WATCH"

            Finally, I have found an article that proves itself to be most helpful when tutoring an ESL student. David Mosher Davin Granroth, and Troy Hicks’ article “Creating a common ground with ESL writers” explains a system of using the letters in “WATCH.”

            While reading this article, I immediately was drawn back into 8^th grade, when I learned CPR and had to memorize the term “DR. ABC.”  The term “DR. ABC” stands for D- Danger (make sure that you and the unconscious person are safe from danger), R- Response (check to see if they respond when you tap them or call their name), A- Airway (open up their airway by tilting their chin back), B- Breathing (check to see if they are breathing, if not, begin CPR), and C- Circulation (check for pulse, and continue to do CPR). 

            Here is valid evidence that a simple word like “DR. ABC” or “WATCH” can go an incredible long way when put to use.  Not only will it stay better in memory, but it will be better to remember in times of concern or trouble.  If I were to see a friend of mine hurt and possibly unable to breathe, my mind would fall completely blank; I wouldn’t know exactly what do to.  But with “DR. ABC,” I am able to step-by-step remember what to do and think clearly.  Wouldn’t you want that during a first ESL meeting?

            “WATCH” is similar—what would we want to think of if an ESL student were struggling and unable to understand anything?  I would definitely become nervous, and probably mess up my words or give bad advice for the sake that I wasn’t quite sure how to proceed. 

            But if I were to know “WATCH,” I would immediately think: “Oh yes—W- talk about the writer, A- talk about the audience and the assignment, T- talk about the task, C- make sure communication flows easily and without force, and H- always help the student.  Especially in the first few sessions with an ESL tutor, I can imagine how helpful this word would be.  I can truly appreciate the authors’ opinion that: “Being WATCHful will help to establish the trust, respect, and empathy necessary for any “helping relationship” (6).

            I have never helped with an ESL student in the writing center, but I have been an ESL tutor for staff members on Richmond’s campus.  Twice a week, I help these men learn English—and I can tell you: I wish I had had “WATCH,” or some form like it before my first session.  Not to say that my first session was horrible, but I was nervous— I wish I had had some sort of device like this. 

            I can personally enforce the importance of learning the student’s background; in my first ESL tutoring session, my student and I only talked of his background, where he came from, and how he came to Richmond—I needed to know his skill level before I could move from there.  The same goes from an ESL writer; you cannot attack their essay before learning the background behind it.  Even more so, by establishing a friendly space, you rid of the “uneasiness between the consultant and the client” (2). 

            The “C” in “WATCH,” however, seems the hardest to me.  With each ESL student comes different barriers.  I’m afraid that only time will allow a tutor to master the meeting with an ESL student.  However, until then, we have the luxury of remembering only five letters if suddenly our mind goes blank during a meeting!

I Am Incredibly Visual... So What Next?

            I have learned of how to present myself as a tutor, I have learned how to act as a tutor, and I have even learned, as a tutor, the many varieties of students I will come upon.  What Ryan and Zimmerelli teach me next is incredibly valid and helpful information—they offer how to handle these different people.

            These are questions that fill my head before each consultation: Is my student a visual learner?  Do I need to use pens and highlighters?  Should I make the student write out all the information?  Or is my student a listener?  Should I read all the information aloud before preceding?  Or does my student learn by doing?  Should I give the student the pen and watch as he or she figures out the thesis with only a little of my aid?

            These are all valid questions, and Ryan and Zimmerelli face them head on, and provide critiques and helpful comments.  I, being a visual and kinesthetic learner, was able to respond to their tips in agreement.  For example, Ryan and Zimmerelli list these tips under “visual techniques”: “Use color when possible” (60) and “work from written material, pointing to, circling, highlighting” (60).  These make sense to me; they seem viable options. 

I made sure to do this during my consultation, even pulling up the assignment on my computer, having previously highlighted the important parts.  My writer seemed very happy with that—the assignment was over four pages long and overwhelmed her even before she set down to read the sheet.  By simply setting aside five minutes to go over her assignment and highlight the important pieces, I was able to help her out immensely, and quite simply.

On the kinesthetic side, I gained the tip to use post-it notes.  “Use them to identify the parts of the paper, like the thesis, topic sentences, and evidence.  Have the student write the concept on the self-stick note and then match it to the appropriate part of the paper” (61).  Overall, these tips allow the writer to better grasp the concept of the paper and assignment.