Point Tutor Training
Welcome!
Congratulations on being selected, and thank you for being willing to be a Point tutor this year.
We couldn’t run The Point without great students like you, so please know how much we appreciate you!
Philosophy
The Role of the Student Tutor
Student tutors are there to talk with students and, through the conversation, help them decide which path they would like to pursue with their work. Tutors do not evaluate or correct a student’s work, nor do they impart a wealth of knowledge on the student. Rather, the tutor listens, brainstorms, questions, suggests and encourages.
“An ideal tutor is like a mirror. When you look into a mirror, you see only your own reflection. Likewise, a student should find in a tutor the reflection of his or her own ideas, framed and set in a slightly different light. The tutor simply helps a student to discover what it is he or she is trying to say.”
-- Lana Lazebnik, former tutor
What To Bring to the Conference
Holding a Conference - Step 1 - Check In
Check in with Ms. Kukalj as you walk in the door. Simply ask, “Where do you need me today?” Be proactive. You are basically “on-duty” from the moment you step into the Point. Be ready and willing to help. Students often base the success of their entire visit on how they are treated when they arrive. For the first 15 minutes of the period, spread out from other tutors so Ms. K knows you’re available. Introduce yourself to your tutee and sit side by side. Try to establish rapport with the tutee – ask questions and be interested.
While Remote Learning: Enter the virtual Point and be ready for Ms. K to assign you to a breakout room for your cerence. There may be some wait time, but you should be ready to go when she calls on you to tutor.
Holding a Conference - Step 2- Get Your Bearings
As you sit down at a tutoring station, ask the student, “What are you working on?” Look at the assignment sheet or have the student explain the assignment to you. (While the student is getting the assignment sheet or pulling it up on Canvas, it is a good time to make sure he or she has a pen—and you don’t!). It’s nice to have a printed copy of the draft or to have them share their doc with you so you can look at it at the same time. Then ask the student what, in particular, he or she would like to work on during the conference. Be enthusiastic about the assignment and the prospect of discussing it with the student.
While Remote Learning: If the tutee can share his or her screen with you, that would be ideal.
Holding a Conference - Step 3 - Read the Draft
Once you have some direction, ask the student to read the draft aloud to you. This is important! First, by reading the paper aloud, the writer retains control of the conference and immediately has a voice in the conversation. Second, students often hear their own mistakes and “rough spots” that are overlooked by the eyes. Listen attentively, concentrate, and avoid interrupting the student.
While Remote Learning: It’s still a great idea to have the tutee read aloud to you.
Holding a Conference - Step 4 - Receive the writing
After the student has finished reading, receive the writing. Give positive feedback, ask a question -- basically, show that you’ve been listening. A simple compliment like, “You have lots of examples here,” or “I like the way you phrased your introduction,” can go a long way in making the student feel comfortable. Remember, it is a scary thing to read your work to your peers, so do your best to alleviate the intimidation factor.
Holding a Conference - Step 5 - Ask Questions
Ask questions. Frame questions that will help the student to think about the writing. Clarification and elaboration questions are excellent. For example, “What did you mean by . . . ?” and “Could you tell me more about . . .?” are great places to start. As you discuss, wait for the student to write down suggestions, but NEVER write on a student’s paper! (And don’t make comments on a Google doc; instead, discuss it, and let the tutee make the comments). This is a conference, not an evaluation. We want students to remain engaged in the conversation and in control of their writing at all times.
While Remote Learning: The same guidance applies. Remember, this is a conversation, not an editing session. As tempting as it might be to go completely digital, you should not be commenting on or editing the tutee’s doc. Have a discussion about the piece and make sure the student remains in control of notes and editing.
Holding a Conference - Step 6 - Plan
Plan a course of action. At this point, you might ask the student, “What can you do to make this piece of writing better?” Talk about it together and make sure you give the student time to write down what transpires. Do not try to make the paper perfect in one sitting. Focus on one or two things that the writer can take away to work on.
Holding a Conference - Step 7 - Closing
Articulate the plan and fill out a form. Close the conference by having the writer summarize what his or her next step will be. You can use this part of the discussion when you write comments on the form explaining what you accomplished during the conference. Finally, ask the student if he or she has any questions and thank them for coming in. Be supportive (both verbally and in writing), but remember that your job is not evaluative. Comments like “good job” and “this is great” may give the tutee a false sense of confidence or discourage further revision. On the form, be as specific about what transpired as you can. Avoid evaluative comments. It is important to fill out a form for EVERY conference, even if the tutee says it’s not necessary. To keep the Point alive, we need to document every conference we have.
The Form:
Holding a Conference - Reflection & Pointers
Reflect on the conference. Ask yourself some questions. Were you a good listener? Did you allow the student to retain control of the conference? Were you encouraging and positive? How did you handle a difficult situation? Feel free to ask the supervising teacher for feedback as well!
Pointers:
Videos -Establishing Rapport & Unpacking the Assignment
As you watch the following videos, think about what is going well and what needs improvement. We’ll discuss them after viewing.
“Unpacking the Prompt” Role Play
You will be placed in a group with two other students (tutor, tutee, and observer) for a few minutes to role play a conference in which a freshman student comes in for help getting started on an essay assignment. Work on welcoming the student, establishing rapport, making the student an active participant, and helping the student find direction. The observer will give you feedback on what you did well and what you do differently when you’re finished.
Here is the essay prompt that the student received:
To Kill a Mockingbird -- Out of class essay assignment
To conclude our study of To Kill a Mockingbird, you will write an essay (in claim-evidence-warrant format) on the following prompt:
Is Atticus a good parent? Why or why not?
Thesis template: Atticus is a _____ (good/bad) parent because he is _______________________________ (list at least three qualities you will discuss in your essay).
Sticky Situations for the Point Tutor
The following situations (compiled by former tutor, Lana Lazebnik) represent some of the tricky scenarios you might encounter as a tutor and offer suggestions for how to handle them. Remember, you should always feel free to call for assistance from a teacher in the room if you need help.
Sticky Situation #1
A student storms into the center and demands a conference form.
Suggestions: You should never feel pressured to fill out a conference form. The policy is clear: No conference – no form. This should be explained to the student right away. You can say, “Sure, I’ll fill out a form, but let’s talk about your paper first.” Usually, students are receptive to such suggestions. However, if they refuse to participate in a conference, you can refuse to fill out a form. It’s as simple as that. If you continue to have problems with that student, alert any teacher that happens to be nearby. Such an extreme situation is highly unlikely, since most students coming into the center have a positive attitude and are really cooperative; but it does happen from time to time.
Sticky Situation #2
A student comes in with an essay discussing a book covered in class. Unfortunately, you haven’t read the book.
Suggestions: While this situation seems difficult, don’t be intimidated. A good argument will be clear whether you know the text or not. One thing you could do is ask the student to tell you about the book. As the student talks about the plot or central themes, he or she thinks about them as well, and thinking and generating ideas is what the conference is all about. Ask questions – your questions may force a student to view certain aspects of the book in a different light. Also, not being familiar with the book will help you spot weakness, like gaps in logic, in a paper. In theory, an essay on a book should be accessible to anybody, not just the people who have read that book.
Sticky Situation #3
You take one look at a student’s paper and realize that some drastic revisions would be needed to make it at least halfway presentable.
Suggestions: This is a very delicate situation. On one hand, you want to help the student improve his or her paper, On the other hand, you don’t want to hurt his or her feelings by excessive criticism. If you think the paper is very weak and want to propose extensive changes, you should start by pointing out a strength of the paper or least say something encouraging like, “This is a good start,” or “You have some interesting ideas.” However, don’t go overboard with your praise. Lulling a student into a false sense of complacency is not any better than discouraging him or her by criticism.
While you’re making your suggestions, watch the student’s reaction carefully. If he or she doesn’t seem to be receptive to the proposed changes, you should probably stop insisting. No matter how good you think your ideas are, it is far more important to respect the student’s ownership of the paper. If that ownership results in the student completely ruining the paper, so be it. If, on the other hand, the student seems to be interested and receptive to your suggestions, you can congratulate yourself on making a difference.
Sticky Situation #4
An AP English student comes in with a paper full of incomprehensible ideas and SAT - level words, and you don’t feel competent enough to help.
Suggestions: Don’t be intimidated! As a general rule, if an essay sounds incomprehensible to you, it probably is. Often students hide their insecurity behind big words and convoluted sentences. Express your honest opinion – be the voice of the “average reader.” Ask the student to clarify aspects of the paper that confuse you.
Sticky Situation #5
A student comes into a conference at an early stage of the writing process, without any written material.
Suggestions: Brainstorming can be either one of the most rewarding things you get to do as a tutor or a total waste of time. Find out what the student expects from the conference. If he or she is indeed having trouble getting started on an assignment, you can generate ideas together. However, if the student really needs no help at this stage and just wants to get “that form thing” out of the way early, you can suggest that he or she come in later with a rough draft and get some concrete help.
Sticky Situation #6
While a student is reading through his or her paper you notice that he or she is stumbling over large words and doesn’t seem to know what the sentences actually mean. You guess that the paper has been plagiarized or written by AI.
Suggestions: Be careful not to take an accusatory tone here. Often, the student does not completely understand the concept of plagiarism and simply needs an explanation. Start by asking the student about the source and make sure you explain that when you take information from somewhere else you have to be careful to put it in your own words. This would be a good time to give some tips on paraphrasing. Also, if it is appropriate, go online (owl.purdue.edu is a good source) and show them proper citation format.
Videos -Question Technique & Closure
As you watch the following videos, think about what is going well and what needs improvement. We’ll discuss them after viewing.
“Writing Conference” Role Play
You will be placed in a group with two other students (tutor, tutee, and observer) for a few minutes to role play a conference with a freshman student who brings in this draft of an essay. Practice welcoming the student, establishing rapport, having the student engage by reading the draft, identifying higher order concerns (argument and reasoning) vs. lower order concerns (grammar and mechanics), and allowing the student time to annotate. The observer will give you feedback on what you did well and what you do differently when you’re finished.
Some parents are good. Some parents are bad. Atticus from “To Kill a mockingbird” is a good parent. Atticus is a good parent because he models good behavior, he listens to his kids, and responsible.
Atticus shows the quality of modeling good behavior, which makes him a good parent. On page 61 it says, “Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets” (Lee p. 61). This quote shows that he doesn’t act one way at home and another way when he’s out in the town. He is the same all the time. And he calls Mayella Ewell “Miss Mayella” all the time. She thinks it’s disrespectful, but it isn’t. Atticus is showing good behavior by calling her that. All these examples make Atticus a good parent.
The Reading Conference
Students in any discipline may come to The Point for help understanding what they read. We read many different types of texts every day; fiction, poetry, graphic novels, textbooks, blogs, lab reports, graphs, and films are all texts that we have to use skills to understand. While you may feel like you have no idea how to help someone read, you likely have an arsenal of strategies you use on a daily basis to make sense of the world around you. In the reading conference, you will simply draw upon those skills to walk tutees through the various texts they bring to The Point.
Share your annotation strategies
What makes an annotation useful for you as a student reader?
How do you track characters, themes, important quotes and plots?
Share your Fix-It strategies
What do you do to improve your understanding when you get confused as a reader?
Some common strategies are:
REading Strategies
Summarize: Read through the text one paragraph at a time and stop to make connections and draw conclusions as you go.
Question: Make a list of questions that come up as you read and jot down the answers as you discover them.
Think Aloud: As you read through a text, stop along the way to respond to what you are reading. Use phrases like “this reminds me of . . . ,” “that makes me wonder about . . . ,” and “I think this word means . . . ,” to engage more closely with the text.
Visualize: Make a mental (or physical) picture of what you are reading.
Use a Graphic Organizer: Create a bubble map or a flow chart of the content of the text to help organize the concepts.
Set a Purpose: If the teacher provided a reading guide or an annotation bookmark for the reading, use it to establish your purpose for reading.
Tips For Conferences with English Learners
-be extra friendly
-use short questions and simple vocabulary
-speak very very slowly
-check for understanding by asking the student to re-state what the tutor said. Do NOT simply ask “Do you understand?”
EL Students (continued)
You can "give" them vocabulary words. One great benefit of The Point is that it is a chance to build language. A student might not know synonyms for "nice" for example. In this case, it is a great language learning experience for this student to gain new vocabulary in an authentic way. It’s also ok to use Google Translate and Google Images to help you through the conversation.
Grammar instruction is a vital part of EL classes. Although in a general ed class, grammar is a lower order concern, in a language class that is NOT the case. Since they are learning the language, focus on common grammatical issues in the conference, especially when it comes to verb tense.
It is okay to give a “mini grammar lesson” to a student. If this happens, please write notes on a separate sheet of paper and the student may take that note sheet with them. Make it clear that it is not your role to “correct” or “fix” all their grammar mistakes, rather it is a learning opportunity
Communicate with the EL Department. If you have questions about how to work with EL students or about a particular assignment, don’t hesitate to contact the EL teachers.
EL Students (continued)
Practice role play with EL writing samples.
What did you notice about the writing samples?
What questions do you still have?
Remember - it is always okay to communicate with the EL Department about any writing assignments and/or students.
TICs (Tutors in Classrooms)
Teachers also sometimes bring whole classes to the Point or have student tutors come to their classes to work on specific activities and assignments. You will be notified if you have a TIC – watch your email and the screen in the Point to keep yourselves up to date on what’s going on that day.
You’re Trained in English! What Happens Next?
Congrats! You are now officially trained to handle writing, reading and EL conferences. Here are the next steps:
-- You will attend math and science training.
-- You will observe teacher tutor sessions. Once we start getting tutees, observe your period’s teacher as she tutors a couple of times so you have a chance to ask questions and pick up tips.
-- The teacher will observe you tutoring. Once you feel ready to tutor, the teacher will observe your first few conferences, help out, and give you feedback afterwards.
-- You’re official; tutor away! Once the teacher signs off that you’re ready, go for it on your own. Remember, the teachers are always available for help and feedback and will continue to “pop in” to your conferences throughout the year. It’s a process; be open to suggestions, and don’t be too hard on yourself. You’ll improve conference by conference and become a better student in the process :)
End of
Humanities Training!
You Rock!