tutor training schedule - wordpress.com · 12:35-12:40 mentor/mentee responsibilities-jenn announce...
TRANSCRIPT
Tutor Training Schedule
12-12:35 Introductions- Dr B
Who are the administrative staff?
Who are the tutors – name, program, year, what excites you about this opportunity to
tutor?
Dr. B.'s talk should be 20 minutes max.
Professional conduct/paid to learn/co-learners/metaphors/alternate models of
tutoring and why we don't use them.
12:35-12:40 Mentor/Mentee responsibilities-Jenn
Announce groups-put up on overhead and ask these mentors to stand and be
recognized
What the purpose of these mentor groups are
You will get a chance to talk with your mentor groups later
12:40-12:45 Training Schedule overview-Oriana What we’re going talk about/do today
12:45-12:50 Registering for ADP-Oriana (LOOK AT TECHNICAL HANDOUT)
Give them the url for the website
ask them to register
explain that once they do, they will be able to track their payments.
tell them to approach Andrew with specific payroll questions
HR says 1st paycheck will be mailed at the end of September and the rest will be
direct deposit.
12:50-12:55 Dates for Other Training Days-Jenn SCHEDULING HANDOUT
October 8 – CVs/Virtual Studio/General issues culled from Virtual Studio posts
December 3 – tutoring reflection – come w/ rough draft and peer tutor
Mention that they will be responsible for tutor portfolio part of which will be due in
Fall (CV and reflection)and part of which will be due in Spring (philosophy). Check
virtual studio for details.
12:55-1:10 Tutor Schedules-Jenn SCHEDULING HANDOUT
Read through this
Tell them to let me know as soon as possible any changes that need to be made
1:10-1:40 WC Online - Andrew TECHNICAL HANDOUT
What is it
How do register and login
How to check your schedule
o How to tell if you are online or in the physical space
How to check for your appointments
o When and why to do this
Missed appointments
Tutoring Reports- Oriana PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT HANDOUT
o Context
o What to include
o Example
1:40-1:45 Desk Staff Responsibilities Jennifer
Names of front Desk Staff: Bianca Harrison, Courtney Nix, and Amber Thorton
Who they are and why they are working in the WS
What they do
It is possible that you will need to cover hours that these students cannot. If so, we
will hold a training session for you to familiarize you with these responsibilities.
The Studio uses a magnetic swipe reader to track personnel and students. You must
swipe your Panthercard upon your arrival to the Studio, and you must swipe out
when your shift is over. This system allows us to track your work hours for end-
year reporting
1:45-2:00 Break
2:00-3:00 Conversational Model-Jennifer HANDOUT
Read through handout and elaborate
o Encourage mentors to act as respondents
What to do (2 mins)/not to do videos (4 mins) w/ discussion
3:00-4:00 Online Tutoring-Oriana HANDOUT
Introduction/Transition from the Conversational Model and F2F discussion
Some practical distinctions between “Synchronous” and “Asynchronous” online
tutoring
Some practical distinctions between F2F and Online Tutoring based on the above
descriptions and implications for the Conversational Model
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
o What similarities and difference do you see between the two chat session
exchanges and the two videos of face-to-face sessions we watched earlier?
o How is the conversational model working in these two settings?
o How did the tutors establish (or not) a conversational tone?
o How did the tutors respond (or not) to students’ concerns regarding their
writing?
o How did the tutors avoid (or not) telling students how they should word and/or
structure their drafts?
4:00-4:15 Break
when you come back sit with your mentor/mentor groups
4:15-4:20 Take 5 mins to talk with mentor groups-introduce yourselves etc
4:20-5:20 Tutor Bio Tutoring Oriana & Jennifer
Tutor bios
What they should contain
Students are able to access your tutor bio when scheduling
appointments online. This bio contains background information including
educational goals, teaching and tutoring experiences, as well as any
strengths or preferences you may have in regards to working with
students on certain kinds of writing.
When they are due and where they should be sent – Monday, August 23 to
Example: Assignment Sheet (Jennifer said she would make it, and make it good)
Mock Tutoring
Tutors tutor one another on bios for 15 mins each changing from student to tutor
and vice versa
Mentors walk around and observe
Discuss experience and observation
5:20-5:50 Virtual Studio –All –PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT HANDOUT
Studio Calendar
Workshops, meetings, major conferences
Roundtables-Sept 16th
Tutor Schedules/Contact Info
Announcements
Tutor Portfolios-upload, see examples
Discussion Forum
Weekly posts
Observations
5:50-6:00 Wrap Up- Dr. Burmester
Workin’ It: The Writing Studio Technical Guide
Accessing Payroll Info through ADP 1. Go to the following url:
https://portal.adp.com/public/index.htm
2. If you have not registered with this system yet, click “First Time Users Register” and use the Registration Pass Code USG-6775.
WC Online WCOnline is the web-based scheduling and reporting system for The Writing Studio. All Writing Studio appointments, communication with students, and
annual reporting is housed through this software.
Registering for WC Online 1. Click “Tutor Logon” at the bottom of the Writing Studio homepage.
2. Clicking “Tutor Login” will bring you to this page:
3. Just like our students, you will need to register before you can access the scheduling system. So, click “Click here” at the bottom of the WC Online
login page.
4. Please use your student.gsu.edu Panthermail address when registering for
the system.
Using WC Online
1. This is the first thing you’ll see when you log in to WC Online. This screen is the main interface for the Writing Studio.
2. When you click the shaded box that indicates an appointment on the
schedule, you’ll see this screen. If the student followed instructions, you’ll see the student’s instructor, course, and a description of what he or she
wants to work on during the session.
3. You can also view previous tutor session reports if the student has been to the studio before by clicking “View Existing Forms.”
To create a tutor report, click “Add New” and type your report into the
“Notes and Comments” section.
4. Missed Appointments
If a student is more than 5 minutes late to a session, you can cancel their appointment by
checking the box next to “Was the appointment missed?”
Students will receive an automated email alerting them to their missed appointment if
you mark them as missed in the schedule system.
The Virtual Studio The Virtual Studio, which can be accessed through the Writing Studio website, is the closed-access intranet for Studio employees. On the Virtual
Studio, you will find several different resources: Studio Calendar
Tutor Schedules
Announcements
Tutor Portfolios
Discussion Forum
Logging onto the Virtual Studio
1. Access the Virtual Studio by clicking on the “Tutors” tab of the main Writing Studio website. Then, click the “Virtual Studio (for tutors only) link.
2. On the next page, click “Go to the Virtual Studio.”
3. Clicking on “Go to the Virtual Studio” will bring you to this dialog box:
4. Your login information for the Virtual Studio is already registered in the
system based on the information you provided to us.
o User Name: Firstname.Lastname (for example, John.Smith)
o Password: 1234
Network Access and Computers Tutors have access to two desktop computers and several laptop computers for Studio-related tasks. The desktop computer at the front desk should
always be reserved for administrative tasks. The other desktop behind the front desk is reserved for tutor reports. Laptops can be checked out for
Studio business as well.
These computers are not for personal use, so please do not check non-GSU
email on these computers, and do not download any attachments or files from the web.
Login information for Laptops
UserID: engwst PW: write
(Please select “workstation only” in Novell login dialog box)
Login information for Desktops Userid: Engtws
PW: coffee (Please make sure these computers are logged on to the network.)
Scheduling
Scheduling Explanation
The Writing Studio opens August 30th. We will be open for 13 weeks in the Fall semester
(this number takes into account our closing during the first week of classes, Thanksgiving
break, and finals week). In addition to today’s workshop, we have schedule 2 mandatory
training workshops at the midpoint and end of the semester. To ensure that we are
accounting for the amount of hours for which you are being paid, we will remove the hours
devoted to these training sessions from your tutoring schedule accordingly. Thus you are
being compensated for attending these training sessions.
Mandatory Training Workshops
Beginning: August 17th 12:00-6:00pm
Midpoint: October 1st 12:00-2:00pm (location TBA)
End of the Semester: December 3rd 12:00-2:00pm (location TBA)
Those working 10 hours a week
You will be tutoring in the Writing Studio for 9 hours a week over the course of 10 weeks. In
addition, you will be scheduled to tutor for 10 hours a week over the course of 3 weeks. The
schedule you have received will remain consistent over the course of those 10 weeks. We
have already selected the 3 weeks of the semester that you will be tutoring 10 hours
instead of 9, particularly keeping in mind those who are taking comprehensive exams this
semester. It is your responsibility to check the online schedule and keep a record of your tutoring schedule for the Fall semester.
Sibongile Lynch: MA 10 hrs a week
Physical Space: Monday and Wednesday 3:00-5:00pm (4hrs)
Online Space: Friday 10:00am-3:00pm (5hrs)
Extra Hours (physical space): Wednesday October 6th 5:00-6:00pm
Wednesday October 20th 5:00-6:00pm
Wednesday October 27th 5:00-6:00pm
Mary Mason: MA 10 hrs a week
Physical Space: Monday and Wednesday 10:00am-12:30 (5 hrs)
Tuesday and Thursday 1:30-3:30 (4 hrs)
Extra Hours: Tuesday September 7th 6:00-7:00pm
Tuesday September 21st 6:00-7:00pm
Tuesday October 5th 6:00-7:00pm
Lelania Ottoboni: MA 10 hrs a week
Physical Space: Tuesday and Thursday 12:00-2:30pm (5hrs)
Online Space: Tuesday and Thursday: 7:00-9:00pm (4hrs)
Extra Hours (physical space): Wednesday September 8th 6:00-7:00pm
Wednesday September 22nd 6:00-7:00pm
Wednesday October 6th 6:00-7:00pm
Shana Latimer: MA 10 hrs a week
Physical Space: Monday and Wednesday: 10:00-1:00pm (6 hrs)
Online Space: Saturday 1:00-4:00pm (3 hrs)
Extra Hours (online space): Saturday October 16th 4:00-5:00pm
Saturday October 23rd 4:00-5:00pm
Saturday October 30th 4:00-5:00pm
Casey McCormick: MA 10 hrs a week
Physical Space: Tuesday: 3:00-6:00pm (3 hrs) Thursday: 3:00-5:00pm (2 hrs)
Online Space: Mondays and Wednesdays: 2:00-4:00pm (4 hrs)
Extra Hours (physical space): Tuesday October 12th 6:00-7:00pm
Tuesday October 19th 6:00-7:00pm
Tuesday October 26th 6:00-7:00pm
Sarah Dyne: MA 10 hrs a week
Physical Space: Mondays and Wednesdays: 2:00-5:00 (6 hrs)
Tuesday: 12:00-3:00pm (3 hrs)
Extra Hours: Thursday September 23rd 10:00-11:00am
Thursday October 14th 10:00-11:00am
Thursday October 28th 10:00-11:00am
Tristan Towne: MA 10 hrs a week
Physical Space: Tuesday 3:30-4:30 (1hr) Thursday 11:00am-3:00pm (4hrs)
Online Space: Mondays and Wednesdays 7:00pm-9:00pm (4 hrs)
Extra Hours: Thursday September 13th 3:00-4:00
Thursday September 27th 3:00-4:00
Thursday October 14th 3:00-4:00
Those working 5 hours a week
You will be tutoring in the writing studio for 4 hours a week over the course of 10 weeks. In
addition, you will be scheduled to tutor for 5 hours a week over the course of 3 weeks. The
schedule you have received will remain consistent over the course of those 10 weeks. We
have already selected the 3 weeks of the semester that you will be tutoring 5 hours instead
of 4, particularly keeping in mind those who are taking comprehensive exams in the coming
Fall. It is your responsibility to check the online schedule and keep a record of your tutoring schedule for the Fall semester.
Laura Johnson: MA 5 hrs a week
Physical Space: Wednesday 11:00am-1:00pm (2 hrs)
Online Space: Sunday 7:00pm-9:00pm (2 hrs)
Extra Hours (physical space): Wednesday September 8th 1:00-2:00pm
Wednesday October 13th 1:00-2:00pm
Wednesday October 20th 1:00-2:00pm
Ashleigh Whelan: MA 5 hrs a week
Physical Space: Tuesday 10am-12:00 (2 hrs)
Online Space: Tuesday 8:00pm-10:00pm (2hrs)
Extra Hours (physical space): Tuesday October 12th 12:00-1:00pm
Tuesday October 19th 12:00-1:00pm
Tuesday October 26th 12:00-1:00pm
William Taft: MA 5 hrs a week
Physical Space: Monday and Wednesday 2:00-4:00pm (4 hrs)
Extra Hours: Wednesday, September 8th 1:00-2:00pm
Wednesday October 13th 1:00-2:00pm
Wednesday November 3rd 1:00-2:00pm
Owen Cantrell: MA 5 hrs a week
Physical Space: Tuesday and Thursday 10:00am-12:00 (4 hrs)
Extra Hours: Tuesday October 12th 2:30-3:30pm
Tuesday October 19th 2:30-3:30pm
Tuesday October 26th 2:30-3:30pm
Shane McGowan: MA 5 hrs a week
Physical Space: Tuesday and Thursday 2:00-4:00 (4 hrs)
Extra Hours: Thursday September 16th 4:00-5:00pm
Thursday September 30th 4:00-5:00pm
Thursday October 14th 4:00-5:00pm
Marcia Bost: PhD 5 hrs
Physical Space: Monday 2:00-4:00 (2hrs) Tuesday 10:00am-12:00pm (2hrs)
Extra Hours: Monday October 11th 1:00-2:00pm
Monday October 18th 1:00-2:00pm
Monday October 25th 1:00-2:00pm
Roslyn Smith: PhD 5 hrs
Physical Space: Tuesday: 5:00-7:00pm (2 hrs) Wednesday 5:00-7:00pm (2hrs)
Extra Hours: Tuesday October 12th 4:00-5:00pm
Tuesday October 19th 4:00-5:00pm
Tuesday October 26th 4:00-5:00pm
Sara Smith: PhD 5 hrs
Physical Space: Wednesday 10:00am-12:00 (2 hrs)
Online Space: Friday 9:00-11:00am (2 hrs)
Extra Hours (online space): Friday October 8th 11:00-12:00
Friday October 15th 11:00-12:00
Friday October 22nd 11:00-12:00
Professionalization
Those assigned to the writing studio for professionalization will be required to
tutor for 10 out of the 13 weeks we are open in the Fall semester. You will be
scheduled to tutor for 4 hours a week for those 10 weeks. The schedule you have received
will remain consistent over the course of those 10 weeks. We have already selected the 3
weeks of the semester that you will not be tutoring, particularly keeping in mind those who
are taking comprehensive exams in the coming Fall. It is your responsibility to check the online schedule a keep a record of the weeks that you are not scheduled to tutor in the Fall.
Hank Backer
Physical Space: Tuesday 12:00-2:00pm (2 hrs)
Wednesday 5:00-7:00pm (2 hrs)
Weeks Off: September 6th-10th; September 20th-24th; October 4th-8th
Laura Beasley
Physical Space: Tuesday and Thursday 3:00-5:00pm (4 hrs)
Weeks Off: September 13th-17th; September 27th-October 1st; October 11th-15th
Jennifer Brown
Physical Space: Monday and Wednesday: 3:00-5:00pm (4 hrs)
Weeks Off: September 6th-10th; September 27th-October 1st; October 11th-15th
Robin Kemp
Online Space: Monday and Wednesday 2:30-4:30pm (4 hrs)
Weeks Off: August 30th – September 3rd; October 10th-16th; October 17th-23rd
Melanie McDougald
Physical Space: Mondays and Wednesdays: 12:30-2:30 (4 hrs)
Weeks Off: September 6th-10th; October 24th-31st; October 31st –November 6th
Mark Michaelson
Physical Space: Monday and Wednesday 12:00-2:00pm (4 hrs)
Weeks Off: September 6th-10th; September 20th-24th; October 4th -8th
Walt Foreman
Physical Space: Tuesday and Thursday 1:00-3:00 (4 hrs)
Weeks Off: August 30th –September 3rd; September 20th-24th;October 4th-8th
Danielle Tillman
Physical Space: Wednesday 4:00-6:00pm (2 hrs)
Online Space: Wednesday 8:00am-10:00am (2 hrs)
Weeks Off: August 30th-September 3rd; September 13th-17th; October 4th-8th
Andrew Davis
Online Space: Fridays: 8:00am-12 (4 hrs)
Weeks Off: August 30th-September 3rd; September 13th-17th; September 27th-October 1st
Jennifer Forsthoefel
Physical Space: Tuesday: 5:00-7:00pm (2 hrs) Thursday: 10:00am-11:00am (1 hr)
Online Space: Thursday 9:00am-10:00am (1 hr)
Admin: Tuesday 11:30-2:30 (3 hrs) Thursday 11:00am-1:00pm (2hrs)
Weeks Off: September 20th-24th; October 11th-15th; October 25th-31st
Oriana Gatta
Physical Space: Monday and Wednesday 1:00-2:00pm (2 hrs)
Online Space: Friday 11:00am-1:00 (2 hrs)
Admin: Monday 10:00am-1:00 (3 hrs) Wednesday 10:00am-12:00 (2 hrs)
Weeks Off: September 6th -10th; October 17th -23rd; October 24th-31st
Kara Eidsvik
Physical Space: Monday and Wednesday 1:00-3:00pm (4 hrs)
Weeks Off: September 6th-10th; September 20th-24th; October 11th-15th
Rescheduling Should you not be able to making the hours that you are scheduled to work for any reason
(sickness, doctors appointments, etc) it is your responsibility to notify the Writing Studio
about your unavailability as soon as possible by both phone and email.
Email: [email protected]
Phone Number for the Writing Studio: 404-413-5840
Jennifer’s phone number: 850-545-5913
Oriana’s phone number: 404-519-4584
If necessary, you should find someone to cover the tutoring appointments you have
scheduled should it not be possible to reschedule these appointments with someone
currently working. The emails and phone numbers of every tutor will be available on the
Virtual Studio. In addition, we ask that you explain to the Writing Studio your absence and
the administrators know when you plan to make up for the hours you have missed as soon
as possible. You may do this either by exchanging hours with another tutor or adding
additional hours to the schedule. We want to make sure everyone is working the number of
hours allotted to them and we would like to count on your participation in making sure this
happens.
The Writing Studio: Professional Development
Card-Swiping While not directly related to your professional development as tutors, making sure that you
swipe your card at the front desk before and after your shift will give us some of the
quantitative data we need to make our yearly case for a better budget.
Tutor Reports Context of Reports
Tutor reports have three major goals: 1) to document particular issues writers may have
and what approaches tutors used to deal with these issues, 2) to document the work and
progress of writers, and 3) to document the work and development of tutors.
As such, there are three different audiences for your reports. 1) They are read by other
tutors before their sessions with students to get a sense of what the student has previously
worked on and how the tutor might be able to help. 2) We also encourage you to read your
own reports periodically to reflect on your tutoring approach and process. 3) Jennifer, Dr.
B., and Oriana also read the reports to get a general sense of what is going on during the
tutoring sessions and if there are any recurring student and/or tutoring issues we need to
address as a part of our ongoing professional development.
Given the context of the reports, it's important that the content of your reports be both
honest and professional.
What to Include
The general nature of the assignment.
The students’ specific concerns regarding the draft (or lack of one).
The concerns/issues addressed during the session. It often happens that students have
more concerns than can humanly be addressed during the session, in which case the
tutor encourages the student to prioritize her concerns and suggest working on lower-
order concerns during another session.
How these concerns/issues were addressed by the tutor.
How the student responded to the approach(es) the tutor used to address the student’s
concerns
What, if any, plan was made between the student and tutor regarding future visits
and/or strategies to apply outside of the tutoring session.
Some reflection on how the tutor felt the session went, e.g. whether it went well or
whether there was something the tutor could have done to improve the session, as well
as what the tutor learned that could be applied to future sessions.
For Example
The student was working on the revised version of a narrative essay and wanted feedback
on her lack of transitions and comma usage. We worked through the two major gaps I
noticed, with the student revising on the spot and asking for further feedback. I also pointed
out one of the misplaced commas, explained why it was misplaced and suggested she comb
through the rest of the essay with that in mind. Overall, a great session!
Another Example
The student came in to discuss a 2-paragraph thesis statement for a history paper she was
working on. She came with her professor's comments, and we made an effort to specifically
work on things mentioned in those comments. We talked about how to avoid direct
quotations in her thesis, as he advised, as well as ways in which she could elaborate to
further clarify her argument.
Observations and Virtual Studio Posts Over the course of the first three weeks that the Writing Studio is open (before September
17th), new tutors should observe a session that a seasoned tutor is conducting and post on
the Virtual Studio blog some reflections on their observations. You may eavesdrop from a
close by location or sit at the table where the session is taking place, but be careful not to
overwhelm the student. Make sure the student is aware that the session is being observed
for training purposes prior to the start of the session.
In addition, once a week over the course of the first 3 weeks that the Writing Studio is
open, mentors will be posting discussion topics and reflections to the Virtual Studio.
Mentees are required to respond to these discussion topics by Friday at midnight. Mentors
are encouraged to remind mentees of this task.
After the first three weeks (starting September 20th), mentees are asked to post once a
week about their own tutoring experiences, sparking conversation and discussion that the
mentors will respond to. These will also be due every Friday by midnight.
Finally, at some point in the Fall semester, we would like for everyone to schedule at least
one appointment to be tutored by another tutor in the Writing Studio. You may work on any
writing project in this tutorial, such as an assignment sheet, a CV, teaching/tutoring
reflection or philosophy, or a paper you are working on for a class. This appointment can be
face-to-face or online, can be with you mentor, another experienced tutor, or with one of
the new tutors in the Writing Studio. You should reflect on this tutoring experience as one of
your Virtual Studio posts. We hope this will give you all the opportunity to learn from having
the “student experience” in the Writing Studio, encouraging you to reflect on your tutorial
strategies as well as improve your own writing in the process.
Sample Posts
Anxiety of Influence:
Hi all,
A student yesterday was working on a really cool paper about a food's presence in their
life. It was mostly a narrative but the teacher wanted a thesis, though it didn't matter
where the thesis was per se. SO the student asked, can I put it as the first sentence? To
which I said, SURE. But in the back of my mind I kept wondering, "OH what if the teacher
disagrees with that." I've had that conundrum several times. What if the advice I'm giving
the teacher considers wrong? I know in the end its the student's paper, not mine but when
they ask for advice, I sometimes worry about saying something their teacher doesn't agree
with? Am I crazy? Does anyone else experience this?
Response 1
I sure do. I had a student yesterday that was worried about her thesis statement. She was
afraid her statement wasn't strong enough. We talked about how she could change it, but I
also reassured her that it was fine. She was so worried that her instructor may not approve
of her thesis statement, I finally suggested that she go to office hours and let him give her
some feedback.
Response 2
I know exactly what you mean. It really is like therapy. All we can do is hold up a mirror to
the students, to let them know how we view their work. I'm going to put a mental Post-it on
my brain to remind myself to ask the students, "Well, what do you think? Do you like where
that sentence goes?"
Response 3
I usually tell students who want to know what their teacher will think to meet up w/ their
instructor.
Response 4
I’ve wrestled with this issue as well. For me the big problem is when the student brings no
written record of the assignment. Absent the teacher’s version of what’s expected, I must
rely on the student’s understanding of it. So, far everything has worked out. But I wonder,
can I be sued for malpractice? I find myself beginning comments to students with a proviso
similar to another’s post: “now, be sure to check with your teacher to be absolutely sure
what she wants.”
Summary
August 30th- September 17th
New Tutors
Observe a session by an experienced tutor and post a reflection on the Virtual
Studio
Respond Mentor’s weekly posts by Fridays at Midnight
Mentors
Post reflections from your tutoring experience once a week by Mondays at
midnight and encourage responses from your mentees September
September 18th-December 3rd
New Tutors
Post weekly reflections of your tutoring experiences by Friday at Midnight
Mentors
Respond to your mentees weekly posts
All Tutors
Participate in at least one tutorial session and post a reflection on the Virtual
Studio
Tutor Portfolios Much like the teaching portfolios GTAs and faculty are expected to submit as part of their
continued professional development, your tutoring portfolio will give you the space to reflect
on your tutoring practices and the pedagogical perspectives that inform them. Further,
writing centers exist in many colleges and universities, and Writing Center studies is a
substantial growing area of scholarly work. If Writing Center work is an interest of yours,
having a tutor portfolio will help you both in the job search and in framing your position in
Writing Center research.
For the Fall semester portion of your tutor portfolio, please upload the following to the
Virtual Studio by December 15, 2010:
1. An updated curriculum vita.
2. A tutoring reflection essay (3-5 pages), which provides a narrative of your experiences
in the Writing Studio for Fall semester, and gives a sense of what you are doing in your
tutorials and your sense of growth and development professionally as a tutor, including
areas you've identified for yourself to work on improving or experimenting with, and what
you believe your successes have been (consider using your weekly Virtual Studio posts and
your observations to guide your reflection).
More on Tutoring Reflections
The Tutor Reflection provides the opportunity for you to think about your best tutorials, the
methods you've found most successful, and when you've felt happy and satisfied with being
a tutor, whether for a face-to-face session or an online one. Additionally, the written
reflection can help you explore areas you feel less satisfied with and that you specifically
want to identify as areas for growth and exploring. You can puzzle through sessions that
seemed less successful or satisfying and consider why things didn't go well and what you
might like to change or new questions these session raise for you in terms of teaching.
Ultimately, the tutoring reflection essay helps you tell a story about your teaching practices
for a single semester, and then you may use that narrative to craft your theoretical and
philosophical identity for future teaching philosophy statements.
For the Spring semester portion of your tutor portfolio, please upload the following to the
Virtual Studio by December 15, 2010:
1. An updated curriculum vita (if anything has changed from the Fall semester).
2. A tutoring philosophy statement (no more than 2 pages), which may include both
narrative and scholarly citations and gives a portrait of who you are as a tutor based on
your beliefs, practices, and how you are influenced by the theories or models of other
scholars and teachers.
More on Tutoring Philosophies
Usually, a philosophy statement is no more than two pages, and while it may include
anecdotes, generally it focuses not so much on what you have done, but on what you hope
to do and how you position yourself within the field and professional conversations about
teaching practices. Also, the philosophy statement may use metaphor or analogy in
describing yourself as a teacher and how you envision the role of yourself and the student.
If you are doing a teaching portfolio, the same statement for classroom teaching can be
used with an additional paragraph or two that addresses your one-on-one teaching of
writing.
Uploading Documents
If you need assistance uploading your portfolio, please ask Andrew, Oriana, or Jennifer to
help you. Also, the reason we are posting them online is so everyone can view them to both
see models of these genres, to see the breadth of experiences and styles in writing about
teaching and tutoring, and to respond to each other and receive feedback from your peers.
So when you have spare time between tutorials or during any of your shifts, please read the
posted portfolio pieces and write your reactions to the authors. Dr. B will view the portfolios
throughout the Spring semester and will email feedback to you individually before
Maymester. For those of you who are doing teaching portfolios, feel free to post yours on our Portfolio page for feedback. These posted portfolios will be educational for new graduate
students as well as for our current staff.
Roundtables Continuing the tradition of conversation and social space for graduate assistants to explore
their professional experiences and interests, Dr. Burmester and the rest of the
administrative staff will host Friday “Roundtables” off-campus. Attendance is optional, but
everyone is welcome to come and talk to each other about courses, writing, tutoring,
administrative aspects of the Studio and/or the graduate school experience, and otherwise
enjoy some coffee and spontaneous talk. The first will be September 24th from 6:00-
8:00pm. We will let you know the location of this gathering in the coming weeks. Check the
Virtual Studio calendar for dates and locations.
Working with Student Writing:
Conversation, Collaboration, Improvisation
“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing”
Dale Carnegie
The Basics: Local and Global Responses to Writing
Global response asks you to examine the writing as a whole and the elements that effect
the overall communication of the writer’s ideas. That is, global comments reflect elements
such as the thesis/focus, organization, audience, purpose, organization, and development.
These are also referred to as Higher Order Concerns,
Local response looks at the details of the writing, such as sentence structure, paragraph
coherency, and diction. These are also referred to as Lower Order Concerns.
Proofreading and Line-editing are the final steps a writer takes before presenting his or
her work to the audience. This entails examining writing for general grammatical and
mechanical errors such punctuation and spelling. These are sentence level rhetorical
approaches used by writers after accomplishing the final stages of content revision. These
are also included in Lower Order Concerns.
According to Ross MacDonald, author of The Master Tutor (1994), a tutor is “Someone who
enters into a teaching and learning relationship with another” (6), which involves
experimenting with communication strategies and using reciprocal talking and listening to
create new knowledge and find new ideas for the writer to explore and develop. Both parties
in the tutorial take on the alternating roles of teaching and learning.
The Conversational Model
Directive vs. Non-directive or Informative- vs. Inquiry-based tutoring
Instructional: the tutor identifies errors in the student’s paper and fixes them for the
student with little explanation for the choices in revision that are made
Minimalist: entails very little interaction between the tutor and the actual paper that she is
working with. Instead, the tutor answers student questions and concerns about writing
while providing minimal textual input
Socratic: involves a tutor that neither directly addresses the students’ papers and nor
directly answers the students’ questions. Instead, the tutor constructs leading questions to
guide students to their own recognition of the weaknesses in their writing and how best to
remedy those weaknesses
Conversational: prompts the tutor to use a combination of all of these methods, focusing
on cultivating the conversation with the student in order to facilitate her writing. Avoiding
purely directive instruction, although implementing a directive method when necessary, the
conversational model of tutoring is a less formulaic and more organic approach to tutoring.
This method relies on the tutor to determine the appropriate level of directive and non-
directive techniques to serve individual student’s needs
According to Ross MacDonald, author of The Master Tutor (1994), a tutor is “Someone who
enters into a teaching and learning relationship with another” (6), which involves
experimenting with communication strategies and using reciprocal talking and listening to
create new knowledge and find new ideas for the writer to explore and develop. Both parties
in the tutorial take on the alternating roles of teaching and learning.
Working with Student Writing
Often you will have students come to the Writing Studio with papers that teachers have
already commented on. Students often ask us to decipher these comments and explain how
to account for the concerns that instructors have recognized. Tutors are encouraged to
explain to students that their instructors are the best source for explaining in detail the
feedback they have provided on the paper. However, do your best to brainstorm with
students about how best to address the feedback or how to clearly ask their instructors
questions about comments that are unclear. In doing this, please be as diplomatic as
possible, avoiding any temptation to criticize the instructor in the process of clarifying the
comments on the students' papers.
Related to this, we ask that you refrain from writing on student papers in tutorial sessions.
Instead, allow the students to make notes on their own papers if they would like reminders
of the feedback you have collaborated on. However, should students be brainstorming or
trying to clarify a major focus of their papers, you are encouraged to take notes for the
student on a separate piece of paper that they can refer to later of you think this will be
helpful. Again, your own instincts are appropriate to count on in tutorial sessions, but it is
important that we do not re-appropriate students writing and make it our own in the
tutoring session, and avoiding writing on our students' papers can do just that.
Vitamin P
Several research studies have revealed that students desire to revise papers that they like,
and that other readers like, so positive feedback and a solid dose of praise can be far more
effective than criticism at times, especially early in the writing process and before final
editing—not false or empty praise, but really pointing out what works in the text and how
strengths can be expanded to the full text.
Respond as a Reader, Not an Expert
Ask questions and give your reactions to specific aspects or features of the student’s ideas
or text. For example, instead of evaluating (“This sentence doesn’t make sense.”) you are
responding (“I find this sentence confusing. What did you mean?” Or “What were you trying
to communicate here?” Or “What do you want your audience to think or feel after reading
this sentence?” Or, turn the paper over and say “What do you most want to say? Just tell
me and then we can compare it to what you wrote.”)
Improvisation
Improvisation is an important technique we rely on as tutors to address student concerns in
tutorials. We ask that you resist the urge to come to every session with a set plan on how to
address specific students or specific problems in their writing. Instead, allow yourself to get
to know the student to understand how best to serve her specific needs. Then, rely on your
instincts to implement appropriate pedagogical strategies in the tutorial session. Think
about multiple ways to communicate your feedback, using the variety of tools available in
the writing studio, to best communicate to each individual student appropriately. You may
read the student's paper aloud, have the student read the paper aloud, or read the paper
together silently, whatever suits both of you in a way that encourages the most
collaboration on how best to improve the writing.
Time Constraints
Although improvisation is an important technique to cultivate as a tutor, remember that you
are under time constraints in each session. Session will be 25mins long for undergraduates
and 50 mins long for graduate students. Consider ways in which you are using this time
most efficiently and productively. Often spending a few mins to get to know the student
prior to discussion and ending the session by constructing a plan of action are effective
ways of tarting and finishing a session, but we encourage you to find what is comfortable for
you in this regard. In addition, encourage students to return to the writing studio for future
visits, as we have found this is more effective in improving the overall quality of the
students' writing than a single visit may be.
Grammar
Often when students come into the writing studio they claim they would like to work on
grammar. This is often because students do not have the vocabulary to explain the higher
order concerns that are more impactful on the clarity of their writing than grammar may be.
However, if grammar is something that needs to be addressed in a student paper, we
encourage you to keep in mind that, above all, we hope to teach students strategies for the
future to detect these errors in their own papers instead of relying on the writing studio to
edit their papers and fix these errors for them. Therefore using the handbooks both present
in the writing studio and available online is a helpful way to show students how they can
remember to implement grammar correction in their own writing for future papers. This
then encourages our main goal to assist students in becoming better writers, not just to be
facilitators for better writing.
Assignment Sheets
We try to emphasize to our students in every venue available to us the importance of
bringing their assignment sheets to tutorials . We encourage you to look at these
assignment sheets and discuss their contents with the students that you work with in order
to make sure that you both are clear on the instructor's expectations for the piece of writing
that the students are working on. However, often times students forget to bring these
assignment sheets or, unfortunately, have not been provided one by the instructor in the
first place. If this is the case, ask careful questions to get as much information as possible
from the students about their understanding of the assignment.
Hard Copy vs. Electronic Copies of Student Papers in Face to Face
Tutoring
Students are asked to bring in a hard copy of their assignment and assignment sheet, but
often bring their jump drives or an electronic copy of these documents to display on their
computers. If students bring an electronic copy of their papers, it is at your discretion
whether you would like to read it in that format, as we understand many tutors find it
difficult to tutor while a student makes changes to their papers on a laptop computer. While
we encourage you to still hold the session, you may tell the student that you would prefer to
have a conversation about their writing more generally instead of about the actual
document they have written. Encourage these students to being a physical copy of their
paper for future visits.
~~~~~~~~~~~~Observation of Two Tutorials~~~~~~~~~~~
"Writing Tutoring--The Wrong Way"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWs1JkpLmQI
"Writing Tutoring--The Right Way"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqVb_JTOVaU
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Tutoring Online: An Introductory Three P’s
The Pilot Online tutoring is a recent addition to the Writing Studio. We piloted the program, under the
direction of Alice Myatt and Juliette Kitchens, during the summer of 2009, and went live, so
to speak, that fall.
The Program We currently offer online chat and email sessions, or what are often termed synchronous
and asynchronous tutoring. Here are a few practical distinctions between the two:
Synchronous online tutoring involves the tutor and student conversing with each
other in real time via a video and/or chat-enabled program. We use Microsoft Live
Messenger, which students have free access to through their student email accounts. We
will talk in more detail about this interface during the extended training for online tutors,
but for those of you who have used AIM or GChat, Messenger functions very similarly.
Students email their documents to tutors so that both the tutor and student can look at
the document at the same time during the session.
Asynchronous online tutoring involves the student-tutor exchange via email. Thus
far, this has involved students email their writing projects to an account we set up
specifically for that purpose, [email protected], and tutors reading through and
responding to these writing projects using Word’s Track Changes’ comment function. In
the instructions to students on our website, we also request that they include either an
electronic copy of their assignment sheet (or a brief description of the assignment) and
an explanation of the kind of feedback they would like to receive in their initial email.
The Practice The following are some practical distinctions between F2F and Online Tutoring based on the
above descriptions and implications for the Conversational Model:
Neither the student nor the tutor can see each other in the traditional sense during
synchronous and asynchronous sessions (as we currently have them set up in the
Studio), and the kind of information we receive and provide via non-verbal
communication (e.g. eye contact, smiling, laughing, shrugging shoulders, sweating,
etc.) isn’t available to us.
So, it can be a bit tricky when figuring out how to establish our ethos as tutors and
‘reading’ that of the students’.
Given this lack of non-verbal communication, as well as the often built-in expectation
of a quick online “chat,” engaging the writer in a conversation about her writing
rather than simply providing her with answers to her questions (which can often
evolve into proscriptive/directive commentary) is a complex task.
During synchronous sessions both students and tutors have the ability to ask
questions in real time, with the possibility of clarifying confusion regarding the
questions or their responses in short order. Since students may or may not respond
to a tutor’s asynchronous commentary on the student’s writing, there is more
pressure to be clear.
Mentor Responsibilities
Thank you so much for agreeing to participate in this mentoring program. In order to maintain
the high standards that you all have created because of your pedagogy and community
interaction within the Writing Studio space, we look forward to your assistance in making this
year's Writing Studio staff as successfully engaged as you have been.
As part of your mentoring responsibilities, you will be assigned 3 new tutors who will come to
you with questions and concerns about their experiences as writing tutors. While we will be
available and accessible to you as well as the rest of the staff to the best of our abilities, we rely
on you all to act as a liaison between us and your mentees so that we can be sure they are
receiving the support they need as they enter into this new and exciting experience.
Observations
Over the course of the first three weeks that the Writing Studio is open (before September 17th),
new tutors will be observing your tutoring sessions, as you are experienced tutors that they can
learn from. Mentees are then required to post on the Virtual Studio some reflections on their
observations of you. In addition, you should observe at least one of your mentees and post an
observation of that one the Virtual Studio as well. This observation of your mentee should be
done sometime during the Fall semester.
Virtual Studio Online Forum
In addition, once a week over the course of the first 3 weeks that the Writing Studio is open, you
are asked to post discussion topics and reflections to the Virtual Studio ever Monday by
midnight. These can be drawn from the observations or from other experiences you have had
while tutoring in the Writing Studio. Mentees are required to respond to these discussion topics
by Friday at midnight. Mentors are encouraged to remind mentees of this task. After the first
three weeks (starting September 20th), mentees are asked to post once a week about their own
tutoring experiences, sparking conversation and discussion that you will respond to. These posts
from the mentees will also be due every Friday by midnight and you should respond sometime in
the following week.
Roundtables
Continuing the tradition of conversation and social space for graduate assistants to explore their
professional experiences and interests, Dr. Burmester and the rest of the administrative board
will host Friday “Roundtables” off-campus. As mentors, we would appreciate your attendance
and ask that you encourage your mentors to attend as well (although attendance is not required at
the functions). We hope that these roundtables will be an opportunity for us all to gather and talk
to each other about courses, writing, tutoring, administrative aspects of the Studio and/or the
graduate school experience, and otherwise enjoy some coffee and spontaneous talk. The first will
be September 24th from 6:00-8:00pm. We will let you know the location of this gathering in the
coming weeks. Check the Virtual Studio calendar for dates and locations.
.
Writing Studio Workshop
Assignment 1
Students are able to access your tutor bio when scheduling appointments online. This bio
contains background information including educational goals, teaching and tutoring experiences,
as well as any strengths or preferences you may have in regards to working with students on
certain kinds of writing. For your assignment, you will construct a bio of approximately 100
words that explains these elements to students.
Here are two sample bios:
Jennifer Forsthoefel has a B.A. in English and a MEd in Secondary English Education from the
University of Florida. She completed her M.A. in Literary Studies from Georgia State University
and is currently taking courses for her PhD in Rhetoric and Composition. Her research interests
include composition, popular culture, pedagogy, feminism, and writing center studies. Jennifer
has taught (and continues to teach) Engl 1101, Engl 1102, and Regent’s essay writing courses.
When not pouring over her books and student papers, Jennifer enjoys Mexican food, college
football (GO GATORS!!), and her bulldog Archimedes.
Oriana is a foreigner in a foreign land. Or at least she was during the two years she spent in
Japan teaching English in elementary and junior high schools. As a PhD student in rhetoric and
composition, she now enjoys introducing her students to the rites and rituals of college
composition and providing a critical, supportive audience to those she works within the Writing
Studio. Even before Japan or her current adventures in teaching, Oriana traveled around a bit
ideologically, moving from a bachelor's degree in English and psychology to a master's in
women's studies. The underlying connection, or compass (if you'll pardon the continued use of a
hackneyed metaphor) is her interest in the intersections between language and culture,
specifically as they relate to identity construction and individual agency. As such, she takes a
developmental approach to composition pedagogy and utilizes popular culture as a jumping off
point for discussion and analysis. In other words, her goal is to make writing appear both fun
and useful and to equip her students with the skills necessary to spread the word.
This bio should be sent to [email protected] by Monday August 23rd
Fall 2010 Online Tutor Training
Intro and Tutor Technology Our online tutoring service started as a pilot program funded by a grant in the summer of
2009. With the grant money, we were able to purchase seven Macbook Pros for the tutors
who selected to participate in the program.
Now that we have a larger physical space staff and so many tutors interested in and capable
of taking on online tutoring, we have more online tutors than Macbook Pros. This may seem
like a real downer that you won't be receiving one of our laptops to do your online tutoring
on, but we've chosen software for the online chat session that you can access as long as
you are in front of a computer with internet access and Microsoft Word 2003 or newer.
Chat Sessions Downloading and Using Microsoft Live Messenger http://www.writingstudio.gsu.edu/personalcomp.html
Using the Microsoft Live Messenger web client in Hotmail http://www.writingstudio.gsu.edu/gsucomp.html
Scroll down to instruction #3.
Policies and Instructions for Students Regarding Chat Sessions. http://www.writingstudio.gsu.edu/online.html
The Chat Session Itself Check what the student has said about their assignment/document on WC Online before
the session begins to get a sense of where to start with the student.
Sign in to Microsoft Live Messenger using your Live ID and password.
Greet the student once she has signed into Microsoft Live Messenger through her email
and started chatting with you.
If the student has not started chatting with you by one or two minutes after the session
has started, add the student to your contact list and start chatting with her, as she may
not have read the instructions for chat sessions on the Writing Studio website.
Ask the student any additional questions necessary to understand what kind of feedback
she's looking for.
Either continue discussing the work or read through the sections the student would like
feedback on and then continue discussing the student's work with the student.
To view the student’s document, ask them to email it to your Live ID email address.
When the conversation is done make sure to suggest to the student that she save a
copy of the session by copy and pasting it into a Word document. This way she will have
a way to refer back to what was discussed during the session. Also mention to the
student that you will also be saving a copy of the session as part of the Writing Studio’s
documentation policy.
Though we encourage you to use the actual Microsoft Live Messenger program (not the
one accessible via email) for your chat sessions, you can save the chat session in one of
two ways.
Option 1
In the chat window at the top right of the menu tab, click this
button:
In the dropdown menu, click File> Save As
Name document in the following format studentlastnameDDMMYYYY
After you have saved the conversation, go to www.dropbox.com and login using
[email protected] and coffee976 as your username and password.
Click on the folder entitled “WriteChat Transcripts FA10,” which will bring you to a
list of folders for each online tutor for the fall semester.
Click on the folder labeled with your name, and then click “Upload.”
Doing this will prompt you to choose a file you would like to upload, so please
select the file you just saved of the conversation.
If you do look at a document from the student during your session, also save and
upload that document using the same file name, plus “StudentDocument” so that
it is easy to match up the chat session and the document discussed during the
session.
Option 2
o If you are unable to use the Microsoft Live Messenger program and just access it
through your student email account, please copy and past the chat session into a
Word document, save it to a location you’ve designated for your online tutoring files
with a file name that includes the month, day, and year of the session.
o After you have saved the conversation, go to www.dropbox.com and login using
[email protected] and coffee976 as your username and password.
o Click on the folder entitled “WriteChat Transcripts FA10,” which will bring you to a list
of folders for each online tutor for the fall semester.
o Click on the folder labeled with your name, and then click “Upload.”
o Doing this will prompt you to choose a file you would like to upload, so please select
the file you just saved of the conversation.
o If you do look at a document from the student during your session, also save and
upload that document using the same file name, plus “StudentDocument” so that it
is easy to match up the chat session and the document discussed during the session.
Email Sessions Policies and Instructions for Students Regarding Email Sessions http://www.writingstudio.gsu.edu/email.html
Checking the Online Tutoring Email Account To log in to this account:
Go to the Georgia State University website.
Click on “Email.”
Click on “Email for Employees.”
Use engcfw and reports as your username and password.
The Email Session Itself Check the [email protected] inbox to see if there have been any student
submissions.
If there has, open the email to see what the student explains about the document
they’ve sent.
If the student has explained the assignment she is working on and what kind of
feedback they would like (not proofreading or editing):
o Check your WC Online schedule to see if you have any available appointments.
o Make an appointment with yourself for the next available time, and in the comment
box, include the name of the student whose work you are responding to and that
you are responding to the students work as an email session.
o Then, during the time you’ve allotted on WC Online, read through the student’s
submission and insert feedback using the comment function in Word’s Track
Changes.
o Save the document in a folder you’ve created specifically for email sessions, and
then email this document to the student, along with an overview of the kind of
feedback you gave in your comments.
o After this, make sure to upload the document to Dropbox following the directions
outlined above.
If the student has not explained the assignment she is working on or the kind of
feedback (not proofreading or editing) she would like, then respond to the students
email by requesting this information.
Make sure to explain that the student will not receive feedback on her submission until
she has offered this information.
Using Track Changes Open up a word document on your computer (using either a Mac or Windows operating
system).
A Day in the Life on an Online Tutor . . . Check your scheduled appointments.
Email students who have made chat appointments, reiterating what they need to do in
order to start the session.
Check the [email protected] email account for email submissions.
Respond to email submissions that do not include the required info and schedule
appointments with yourself for those submissions that have included the required
information.
Chat with students scheduled for chat appointments.
Read through and respond to email submissions that you’ve scheduled yourself to read.
If you have no chat or email sessions scheduled . . .
Log onto Drop Box, read through previous chat sessions and post responses/questions
to the Virtual Studio.
Post questions/food for thought on the Virtual Studio related to your own tutoring
experiences.
Work on your tutor portfolio.
Your Turn Pair up with another tutor and take turns playing the “student” and “tutor” and using
your tutor bios as the work being discussed.
The student should log into her student email account and add the tutor’s email to her
list of contacts.
The tutor should sign in using the downloaded Microsoft live Messenger program, and
add the student to her list of contacts using the student’s GSU (student) email address.
Make sure to save the chat session in your Dropbox folder as “Practice-Session-8-25-10”
or “Practice-Session-8-27-10.”
Your Turn, Part II
Take about 10 minutes (shorter than the usual 30) to read through the following essay
and comment using Track Changes comment function.
Also, pretend that the student has email this to the [email protected] address and
explained that this was a rough draft of a personal narrative essay and that the
assignment was to more specifically focus on a transformative experience in her early
adult life. She’s concerned that she may not actually be telling a story but is not sure
how to break out of the five-paragraph essay format.
“How I Spent My Summer Vacation”
I spent my summer vacation in three ways: working, partying, and resting. Each one
of these ways helped me mature in different ways: mentally, physically, and
psychologically.
The most important way I spent my summer vacation was working at McDonalds. My
work consisted of three things: taking orders, cleaning up, and training new employees.
Taking orders can be broken down into three things:listening to what the customer wants to
have (like hamburgers or fries or a Diet Coke), riting down what the customer wants to
order (like a shake or Egg McMuffin or milk, whichever the case may be), and giving the
customer what it is he or she ordered, which could be any of the above.
Cleaning up was the second part of working at McDonald’s and it took three forms:
wiping the tables with a damp cloth, taking out the garbage, or brushing off the counter
with a brush and water with Joy in it, or with a towel, or with the brush with Joy and a
towel.
Training new employees was my most responsible job and it consisted of three parts:
telling them how to take orders from customers, telling them how to clean the tables with
Joy and a towel if necessary, and assisting them in preparing themselves to be one of
assistance to other new employees if there are any.
All three parts of my work matured me as it took mental quickness to catch the
orders if they were not decided and it took strength to wash the tables if they were crusty
with eggs or old Coke and it took growing mental and psychological maturity to introduce
new employees into this work.
Partying was the second way I spent my summer vacation. I partied in three
different ways: listening to records with friends, drinking beer with friends, or partying at
the beach with friends.
Listening to records with friends, three different groups were heard: R.E.M, The New
Kids on the Block, and our favorite, Bon Jovi. Mentally it improved me to follow the music.
Physically this helped too if we danced to it. And psychologically it is relaxing to hear the
three groups above when you have worked hard all week.
Drinking beer with friends was the second way of partying, which might overlap with
the first. We would drink either of three kinds of beer: Bud, Coors, or my friend brought
Shanghai beer once which the bottle smelled like cardboard inside after you were finished
drinking it all out of the bottle. Drinking these three kinds of beer helped me grow mentally
because it allowed me to relax which allowed my mind to expand and grow. In spite of what
you may think, drinking this beer helped my physically because beer has carbohydrates,
and since I am a runner (440 yds) I need carbohydrates. This is called “called carbohydrate
loading” and it is definitely recommended for people who run distances, and I run distances
to train for the 440 yards, although you did not maybe know that you have to. And the
three types of beer helped me psychologically because I am tense after a long (eight hours
with only 30 minutes off for lunch) stretch at McDonald’s, and the beer makes you relax.
The third way I spent my summer vacation was in that I rested. I rested in three
ways: I lay on my bed and listened to my records, I watch the TV, and I slept.
When I lay on my bed and listened to records, they would be Bon Jovi, or R.E.M, or a
third group of my choice at the time. I would sometimes follow the music in my mind. I
would sometimes just have it in the background as I was thinking of things that happened
last night. I would sometimes just sleep while the music was going.
I would also rest by watching TV, either Roseanne, or Cosby, or a third program of
my choice at that particular time. I would watch the program to find the plot or to enjoy the
character development or to notice the symbolism. This last one may not sound like resting
to you, but I find relaxation in light mental strains.
My rest was accomplished in a third way by sleep. I work very hard and I party a lot
so that sleep is definitely essential for me mentally, physically, and psychologically. I sleep
in three different places: in the chair my dad sits in which I sit in when he’s not home just
watching the TV sometimes, and in my bed when I’m listening to one of the three groups
mentioned above, and in my bed at night when there is no music. This sleep helps me in
the three aspects I have already mentioned above.
I feel that this summer I spent my vacation in three ways that will definitely help me
mature mentally, physically, and psychologically. This was done through work and partying
and resting. I can strongly recommend this for everyone.