Hey everyone,
Hope everything is going okay with the mentees. Please post an update for Week 4, or a summary of how things have gone this first month, by Sunday Oct 3.
I'll come look at them Sunday, but if you have anything else you'd like to discuss with me - send an email and I'll be able to respond faster.
Thanks,
Kat
I believe this is the only way to post without having the password to the mentor blog so...I guess I will be bold here and kick this bitch off! (Ok, I will be more professional).
ReplyDeleteMentoring thus far has been like swimming in a bowl full of your favorite kind of soup--warm and delightful but maybe too hot to swallow. The mentees that have shown regularly are eager to know how this job works and I have been talking to them as though they are hired (working on my Trump status). In the few sessions that I have had with the mentees, we have not so much been talking about the readings but about different scenarios that may occur in a session. For example, what to do when a student does not have any work or how to approach an ESL session.
With that said, talking about scenarios is just as helpful as reading theory, not exceptionally helpful at all, so I have really been encouraging them to start observing.
Two of my mentees co-piloted sessions with me and were able to finally connect the theories they have learned to the actual art of tutoring. I sensed that they were excited about the opportunities in a writing session by their feedback. I also want to note that one of my mentees found it valuable for me to tell her, and I guess show in a way, that addressing the student as a person and not just someone with a paper is infinitely valuable. Ask them how their weekend was, ask them what they had for breakfast, BE THERE as that lovely FISH video taught us (fish fascists).
So there you have it! You know what I like to say, "good mentees, good times!"
~ Zach
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ReplyDeleteHey Kat,
ReplyDeleteOkay, so mine isn't as funny as Zach's, but I also had issues posting something, so here it is!
So far, my mentees have been pretty rad - however they are a little confused about the papers and how to go about observing. I suggested that they concentrate on just observing the session (what they're wearing, dialogue), etc. A few of them are worried about completing the 20 hours of observation, between their work and school schedules. I feel like this is a bit much just for having to write a paper on two case studies, but hey, they gotta get it done. Will said that Nita isn't including the mentoring sessions to be included as observations, what is everyone's thoughts on this?
All in all, we have just been getting to know each other. They've been asking questions such as, "What was your weirdest session," etc. They just are eager to learn about our strategies as tutors. They were flabbergasted when I told them that I usually will talk with my students the first 10-15 minutes of every session about their weekend/day. I told them that this could be a useful tool, especially if your student is extremely shy and has a hard time talking about their writing.
Talk soon,
Kendra
Hey Kids!!!
ReplyDeleteSo my mentees are all really great kids and I'm really looking forward to watching them start their tutoring career.
One of my mentees (Jake S or as I now call him "curly haired" Jake) always fills the sessions with engaging questions and what if scenarios. He also takes notes and titles them "Alex's philosophy) We have talked about plagiarism and how to handle difficult sessions. Sometimes I will base my following 3 mentor sessions off of the topics Jake and I discuss.
Overall I think my mentees will struggle with editing versus improving the writer. That's something that I think they will understand more once they start observing.
Ok so Observations....
When I took the theory and practice class way back in the spring of 09 I was one of the few students in the class who actually had an outside job. It was super difficult to fit in my hours observing and to be honest I don't think I completed the hours that were suggested.
That being said, all of my mentees have jobs. In today's world most students have jobs. Most students have time in their schedules for class, work, and sleep. And those things are generally done between 9 am and 7 pm.
All 4 of my mentees have discussed worry over the observation hours. When they aren't at school, they are working. I understand that they could feasibly use their time that would be spent in class observing but to be honest there aren't that many students that come in to be tutored on Tuesday Mornings.
So I think that they should be able to observe during mentoring hours, if we the mentors think its ok. To be honest I feel that our mentoring sessions won't be as productive until my mentees get to observe some sessions. I would ideally like them to observe me tutor someone. I am willing to tell the front desk that I can take drop ins during my mentoring hours, however I'm sure due to the constraint that is timetrade I don't know if that will happen.
Basically if I can't get a student during mentor times I would like them to observe other tutors. Time is precious in this day and age and that people have jobs and other obligations.
So there's my 2 cents.