4/26/08

Well this is last-minute! I meant to do a couple of blog posts this week to make up for the three I missed over the semester, but I have been so busy with projects for other classes that I totally spaced it!

Looking back on this class, it has been a positive experience for me. The discussion-oriented format really did a lot to bolster my confidence. Often times in class I'll find myself taking a back-seat role, only contributing in very safe, marginally declarative statements, but that type of interaction didn't really work with this class. When any of us spoke, we (usually) held the floor, and were expected to voice an opinion and be ready to defend it. I liked that.

Although this was a tutoring class, I think I learned some skills that apply to more than just tutoring. Primarily, the importance of listening to someone and connecting. By listening, I mean honestly, openly hearing what they have to say, and trying to empathize with their dilemma. Part of careful listening is empathy, I think. And by connecting, I mean the importance of personal rapport. In tutoring, and in relationships in general, it's important that we feel connected to one another to some degree. I suppose what I'm speaking to is amicability: the ability to get along with others.

That sounds cheesy. Oh well.

4/19/08

I was relieved to have at least the rough draft of my final project in. The idea I decided on was to make a faux message board where I would create a post on what I experienced in my tutoring observations. There were weak points, admittedly, but I was pretty proud of the idea at least. I think it allowed me to voice opposing opinions in a very realistic format, and allowed for a more guided argument through my own assertions than is possible in a traditional academic paper.

I think for my portfolio I'm going to add more details about my observing. I only mentioned one of the students I observed (out of three), and I'd like to talk about at least one more. I also think I could do more responses. As I have it now, there is my original post, an opposing viewpoint from a fictional poster, and then my rebuttal post. I think adding at least two more posts (one from each viewpoint) could empower my opinions more...

4/12/08 #2

I really am having a hard time figuring out what to do for this final project. Katie, Erica, and I were planning on doing a pamphlet for the writing center, but I don't really see how we can do that with having it still meet the rhetorical requirements of the assignment. We are going to work on it some more tomorrow (in between my other four papers due this week...can't you guys stagger stuff?!!?), and hopefully we'll work out something to do.

Also, this is unrelated, but I'm officially anti-Clinton now. Throughout the course of my Obama support, I've always maintained a respectful disinterest in the Clinton's, but the recent harping they've done on Obama's comments on Pennsylvanians is just ridiculous. I realize politics is a soulless pursuit (With the single exception being Obama, of course), but the level of soullessness they're engaging in over this absolutely tiny comment just sucks. Hey Hillary, effect a horrible southern accent more.

Okay, I'm done.

4/12/08

Lindsay's and my discussion went surprisingly well considering how nervous I was beforehand. I had convinced myself it would be one, long series of unanswered questions, and with neither of us having enough input to carry the entire class, we would not be able to fill the allotted time.

Boy was I wrong.

The class was absolutely fantastic about giving their opinion on the merits/detractors of online tutoring. I didn't expect to find such animosity on the subject, but I wasn't offended--I was grateful! I'd love to sit in on an online tutor session in the writing center sometime...

4/5/08

I went to a charity dinner and silent auction tonight to benefit an organization that runs an afghanistan school and is trying to run a medical center as well. It really made me realize how lucky we are, how lucky all students in the U.S. are to have all the simple amenities that we have.

Kids in this school are jam-packed into their classrooms like sardines. They sit on the floor, no desks to write on, hell they don't even have boards to write on. Their building is not what we would consider in good condition. But you know what? They are so happy to be in school, to be increasing their knowledge through a formal education, it made me feel ashamed. I feel ashamed that I have ever felt reluctant to go to class, ashamed that I have skipped class. I'd like to cultivate the attitude I saw in those children in my own work ethic.

4/5/08

I've been thinking about my class discussion I'm giving next week.

I really like the concept of online tutoring. I did a project in another class (semester-long project, actually) that looked at videogames in education, and I think this is in that same vein. One of the boons to this type of medium is the comfort it can provide. Sure, the tutor would know your name, and maybe you might know them personally as well, but I think when you're dealing through a computer, you are generally more relaxed.

One of the larger drawbacks to this type of tutoring would be the loss of face-to-face communication. You simply can't communicate at the same level over a computer as you can in person. Things like facial expression, intonation, and body language are all lost over online tutoring, and that's a pretty big deal. I'll be thinking of some good questions to pose to the class!

3/29/08

I enjoyed Phil and Kellye's class discussions.

I think Phil did a great job involving the class with his arrow exercise. It was a simple and fun way to prompt some more in-depth analysis of the relationship between student, text, and tutor. I'd like to incorporate something like this with Lindsay and I's discussions. Maybe do some group work for ten or fifteen minutes, and then have the groups write on the board what they found, and have them talk about how they arrived at their decision. On Wednesday it quickly became apparent to me that the best discussion leader merely prompts the class to give their input without overloading his/her own opinion. I think a successful class discussion would have 90% student conversation and 10% leader opinion.

I think I'll shoot for a similar approach to Phil, but with group work.