Today in class the students had to have some of their 5 page essay about Gladwell's idea of success done in class and we spent the time doing some peer editing. We used this technique to help the students identify the focus they want to use for this particular essay and ways to "take Gladwell seriously." For this paper she wants the students not to worry so much about the organization of their essay, but more on the development of their thoughts and the words they choose that express their thoughts.
I think sitting in on the classroom was helpful because I know that a lot of the time I am emphasizing the importance of organization with my students in our sessions, but I think I will use the techniques Pegeen used in class to help my student identify her focus. I agree that this is a really complicated subject matter to deal with and the ideas that the students want to bring up will not be able to conform into a "neat package" like in a typical essay. My student did not come to her session yesterday and was not in class today, so I am anticipating going through the draft that she has and helping her develop her ideas and questions of Gladwell, and to make sure she stays with a focus rather than "rambling."
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I agree with Casey that sitting in on the classroom every week is going to prove to be very helpful. While the three students that I tutor from the class have always been informing me on what they need to do, actually hearing Pegeen talk about the assignments helps further along my understanding.
ReplyDeleteAs a tutor, I find this program to be very very VERY beneficial to both myself and the students involved. All of my students seem to be eager to do the assignments and they all know what is due and what is expected of them.
As far as this current assignment we are working on with the students is concerned, I feel that it will be harder for me as a tutor who is used to structuring a paper step away from that and focus more on the FOCUS of the paper and questioning Gladwell. As long as I keep that in mind when helping the students during our session, this week should go smoothly =]