Writing Center Theory #5

Tutoring the Wrong Way
This tutoring session made me cringe. She did all of the work for him and he just sat there. She took control of the paper and he let her - that's like cheating because she did half, if not most, of the work. Making so many changes to his paper while he looked around the room was completely useless. He didn't learn anything and will probably continue to come to this Writing Center to have her redo his papers.

Tutoring the Right Way
This kind of tutoring is more like the tutoring we've been reading about. The tutor talks to the student about the paper and asks him questions. She doesn't take control of the paper. She doesn't write on his paper and when he has questions about commas, she talks him through that as well and gives him a handout. She doesn't baby him while guiding him through his paper. She makes him think about what he has written, which helps him fix any errors he has made and make clarifications to his paper. This kind of tutoring seems productive. The fact that he returns to the Writing Center to continue working on his paper shows that he's the one working on his paper, not her.