Jose Di Paola 2 questions


1. Chapter 2 of the Bedford Guide suggests allowing students who are silent some time to think rather than immediately prompting them to action when they pause. What do you do though if they still have trouble talking after given time? How do you build an expectation of them participating without directly telling them to do it?

2. The writing center tutor guide suggests using experienced tutors as a resource. With the pandemic, we aren't working together in the writing center, so I'm not sure who to go to first. Is there an established protocol for contacting other tutors, or should I just send off an email?

Comments

  1. Carol SeverinoSeptember 2, 2020 at 11:45 AM

    Great questions!

    1)There's nothing wrong with using metadiscourse to tell them that the videoconference is collaborative and that you'll be working together in a balanced fashion. You can tell them that you'll support their thinking and learning until ultimately they can solve writing problems on their own. They won't learn if the tutor does all the problem solving for them. If they are silent, give them hints and clues. If it's a matter of rephrasing something, start them out with the first few words of how you would rephrase it.

    2) Good point--our current version of the UI WC tutor's guide is not a pandemic version. If you have a question, email me or Deirdre-Egan@uiowa.edu, the assistant director.

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