Since my experiences in tutoring this semester have been limited, I will try to remember specific instances related to steps 4-8 of the tutor cycle and incorporate them into a general reflection of my sessions.
Step 4: Identify thought processes
This is the step that I think I need to work the most on. I do ask generally how the student feels about the material being covered in class. However, I don’t usually spend a lot of time trying to figure out how the person is thinking about the subject other than through observations during the actual session. I always ask what the client would like to cover and needs work on. But asking a client to “tell me what you know” probably would be more useful since they don’t always know that they don’t really know a concept. As a tutor, I would know what is important for them to understand, so I could fill in the gaps after hearing them explain the subject themselves. For example, while tutoring for Arabic, I realized that the clients might not know how to tell the difference between the Arabic equivalent of “Y” and the same letter used as a vowel to create the long “E” sound… so I explained to them how I was able to tell the difference.
Step 5: Set an Agenda
I agree with what an earlier tutor had said about how going off on tangents can sometimes be helpful. I do try to ask the client what specific things he or she would like to cover during the session; noting this down helps to ensure that you make the most of your time with your client. However, once you actually start talking about the concepts, it sometimes becomes apparent that there are other aspects of this or related ideas that are unclear. These are also important to address- the key is balancing them so that you don’t spend the entire time on stray information and never actually get to the questions at hand.
Step 6: Address the task
When it comes to actually addressing the task at hand, I like to try and talk the client through his or her grammar/writing questions. After answering those, I guide them through some practice application of the concepts. The client is asked to look through and find things in their book and/or notes as much as possible instead of me always simply providing the answer. This is hard to do though, when the client is unprepared.
Steps 7 and 8: Have the client summarize the content and process
I usually do this both throughout the session and at the end, by asking the client to repeat in his or her own words the concepts that we have just gone over. Like Susie had written, a good way to do this (and remind yourself to do it) is to use the tutoring forms: ask the client at the end to “remind” you what you went over for the past half hour so that you could write it down on the tutoring forms… and how it was done so that the method can be written down in the “what to do next” section. Once again, I also do this during the course of the session as the processes are being practically applied, so that I can be sure the client understands what he or she is doing, and why.
