Writing Center Tutoring Scenario: Personal Life Distractions

Daisy is a student who needs some help from the writing center with a resume she has written for her WRT 320 class- Peer Tutoring in Composition. Daisy has set up an hour long appointment with a tutor named Ashley, which Daisy is already dreading before even stepping foot into the Writing Center. From the beginning Daisy is very distracted and not really looking forward to this tutoring session. Even as Ashley tries and tries again to keep Daisy's attention, the session is bound to be a failure. Daisy has car troubles and a past conversation on the phone has her mind all over the place; Daisy is stressed out and does not even want to take the time to get help on her resume. During a tutoring session, a distraction like this could be detrimental to the student's positive experience in the writing center. This is unfortunately what happens to Daisy and Ashley's session; there does not seem like enough time to both get Daisy's full attention and actually have Ashley help Daisy with her resume. It is not good to have a phone present in a tutoring session for many reasons. This video shows just one example of why they should be banned all together.

For more information about how to deal with personal life distractions in a tutoring session please consult the following references:

Rabow, J., Chin, T. & Fahimian, N. (1999). Tutoring matters: Everything you always wanted to know about how to tutor. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Ryan, L., & Zimmerelli, L. (2006) The bedford guide for writing tutors (4th ed.). Boston/New York: Bedford/ St. Martins.

Discussion Questions:

1.Could a "no cell phone policy" implemented in writing centers be used to prevent situations like this from happening?
2.What could the tutor have done differently to try to better deal with the situation?
3.What kind of personal information is acceptable in establishing rapport with a tutee? Where should we draw the line?
4.What do you think was the most uncomfortable part of this situation for the tutor? How can a tutor deal with feelings of discomfort or unease during a situation like this?
5.Is it ever acceptable to ask a student to leave or to end a tutoring session if a situation gets completely out of control and the session is unproductive? Would this scenario have been one of those times?

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Writing center
• tutoring
• cell phone use

[gedcoach1]

That's why I charge $30 an hour.