Reflection on Sondra Pearl's Essay

I enjoyed the essay by Sondra Pearl. While she may have some new strategies for composing, I do not feel that the traditional way “plan-write-revise” should be forgotten or not put to use. I’ve used this traditional process for several years and it has worked wonderfully for me. This doesn’t mean that I am not open to new composing ideas and strategies. People have different composing styles which may or may not work for them. If the traditional way does not work, one must recognize that they have a problem. They either have to decide to try a new strategy, or continue to be unsuccessful in their writing. I enjoyed and agreed with Sondra’s concept of the “felt sense”. I always knew a lot of my writings were based off inner feelings. Sondra explains the “felt sense” as your inner bodily awareness of an idea. It is a combination of what you feel about an idea and the meaning. It also includes the images and words that flashes before you. Sondra reminds us that there is always something “in mind” before we even have words for it. For me, when I am given a topic to write about, I sit and brainstorm for a little and many feelings and emotions arise. I too constantly revise before a due date just to make sure that I feel like my ideas, views, and opinions have been clearly stated and can be understood by the reader. Sondra’s guidelines are definitely helpful and can improve ones writing if certain of her concepts were put into practice. Personally, I will definitely try to use several of her guidelines to improve my composure of writing. Discovering what is on your mind is crucial to writing a good paper and this is just as important as listening to your inner speech.

Do's of Tutoring Writing

Have proper posture

Make yourself available

Show concern and interest

Wear proper attire

Let the tutee talk

Ask for a copy of the assignment

Dont's of Tutoring Writing



Don't brag about yourself

Don't fidget

Don't talk about your personal business

Don't be late to a session

Don't insult anyone

Don't blame the tutee for their problem areas

Don't do the work for the tutee

Don't put your beverages on the tutoring table

Don't constantly cheerlead the tutee

How I feel about becoming a Writing Tutor

How do I feel about becoming a writing tutor? Hmmm...Honestly, I am more anxious and excited more than anything. I love helping people and reassuring them. I feel it is important to share knowledge with others, especially if it will benefit them in the long run. I never thought about becoming a writing tutor until I started my ENG220 class. What really opened my eyes was my first observation between a tutor and a tutee in LaGuardia's writing center. It was a really good experience for me because I paid close attention to the tutor’s body language, eye contact, vocabulary, reinforcement strategies and ways she pointed out areas in which could use help. After that observation, I became a bit worried because I’ve never been a writing tutor before and I didn’t and still don’t know if I can or will ever meet up to the expectations of a writing tutor. Will I be able to efficiently help a tutee with a piece of writing? What if I don’t have the right answers to give the tutee? These thoughts are very overwhelming. I feel that if I focus on my good feelings, which are excitement and anxiousness, I will be a great writing tutor. I hope to feel proud of myself after assisting my first tutee on his/her work. I always help my friends in classrooms when they have questions or get stuck, so I feel confident I could do the same as a writing tutor.

What I have learned about being a Writing Tutor

I have learned many things when it comes to being a writing tutor. The most important fact in being a writing tutor is that...




I never thought I’d want to become a writing tutor, but my mind changed after I did my first observation at LaGuardia's writing center. Professor Gallagher did a good job in preparing us prior to the observation. It was a good feeling to see how relieved some students were after receiving help from a writing tutor. I just only begun ENG220 (Teaching Writing), and I never thought I’d learn so much about becoming a writing tutor and teaching writing. Writing is an art, it takes time and effort. I personally like the student-centered tutoring approach where the writer does most of the talking and most of the work. I also praise collaborative tutoring because it gives the tutor a change to encourage the writer and conversate to prompt and probe questions in which could help to expand on the writer’s paper. By conversating, the tutee will get a sense of what he/she will put in their paper. As a tutor, it is your job to be available when the writer needs you. Tutoring writing is not a therapy session where personal matters are discussed. It is also important for the tutor to avoid being overly critical about a writers work. It is important to reinforce and focus on the positives while pointing out areas that could use a revision or a second thought. Tutors have to be aware of the ideas of the writer and respect them, not try and change them. I've also learned about the recursive stage-process model and how it works. In this model, writers are able to plan, write, hesitate, revise, scrap, and then rewrite. The three essential parts of the process are prewriting, writing, and then rewriting. By following this process, writers have a better chance of developing a successful piece of writing. I've also learned that a piece of writing consist of both HOC's (High Order Concerns) and LOC's (Low Order Concerns). HOC's include clarity of the thesis or focus, good development and information, effective structure or organization and appropriate voice or tone. LOC's include punctuation, sentence structure, grammar and spelling. While both HOC's and LOC's are important, it is more important for a tutor to focus on the HOC's in a writers work. In the paper I completed about James Moffett, his idea that writing consists of both physical and mental activities is an idea in which I totally agree with. I also praise Moffett for explaining that writing is a revision of inner speech. He feels that a student cannot write something that he/she cannot say or think themselves. I too believe that inner speech takes place before one can write about it. Writing is fun and it is a creative process in which takes time, patience, and effort. I have learned so much about being a tutor and teaching writing and we are not even half way through the semester! I have learned what tutoring writing is and what it isn't and I look forward to learning much more in the next upcoming class sessions in my ENG220 teaching writing class.

Why I said what I said to Jaileen and Mateo

Jaileen's poem interpretation had some really good ideas. I felt like she was able to efficiently explain certain symbolism's throughout her essay. While reading her piece, I became a bit confused which is how I came to my choice of sentence structure as HOC. I told Jaileen to re-read and to make sure that her sentences were properly structured to ensure a smooth flowing essay. I also reminded her about the instructions in the assingments and asked her the following questions: Why did this poem stand out to you? What are some specific reasons that this poem had an impact on you? I told Jaileen that the answer to these question would greatly help her introductory paragraph. A definition of tone and symbolism in her own words was required, so I reminded her of that as well.

After reading Mateo's draft, I was pleased to see that he recognized a pattern in the lines of the poem. I told Mateo that I felt like he did a good job in describing his interpretation of the symbolism he found in the poem. I told him this because he used many descriptive words to help get his ideas across. As I was reading Mateo' s entry, I felt that his organization could use his attention and this is why I chose organization for a HOC. I also reminded Mateo that tone in the poem was not literally the sound or rhyme schemes, but more of the author's attitude. I told this to Mateo because I feel that if he understands the authors attitude, it will help him to develop a better analysis of the authors ideas. Overall, I liked Mateo's interpretation.

Testing! Hello Professor Gallagher! Goodnight!