The Modern Tutor

Where Has Tutoring Gone?

Tutoring has evolved over the past hundred years, but it's also remained the same. The act of tutoring is meant to help support and improve the skills of another. However, in this day and age, the job has begun to shift. Tutors and editors have gotten a bad rap from those that they work with. They are looked at as a source of harsh judgement, rather than an inspirer. Tutors take the ownership of the good work, but over-correct the bad. Luckily, there are steps that new (and improving) tutors can take to be an effective educator. McAndrew and Reigstad introduce many of these ways in their chapter, What Tutoring Isn't. The list of "Don'ts" include: Responding too late, giving false praise, taking ownership, and so on. Ultimately, the message of the text is to allow writers the space and creativity they need, but to also provide correction when necessary - not all the time. If you're interested in how to further develop your own tutoring skills, take a look at UNC - Chapel Hill's Tips for Writing Tutors. 

My Own Reading and Writing:

I have always been a very active reader. In Kindergarten (I was granted bragging rights, so I can say this) I was awarded the #1 reader of the district. In fourth grade, I was reading 900 page novels for fun. In sixth grade, I was reading at a college level. I had an endless supply of love for books and reading that never truly perished. Writing felt the same. I began writing at a very young age for an unfortunate reason: My father passed when I was very young, so many grief counselors suggested I turn to writing in order to heal. I always say there is a bright side in everything, and that's what writing was. I started with journaling, but I began to turn towards poetry. From poetry, I turned to blogging. After that, there were no limits. 

In both reading and writing, I prefer fiction. In fiction, I prefer thrillers, adventure, dystopian. I like styles that make you think and blow your mind. On the flip-side, I've never been a fan of romance. I laugh when I read it and I cringe when I write it. Overall, I am very specific when it comes to reading and writing. There are times when I drift out of my comfort zone, but I always tend to drift right back.

I am very multimodal with my reading and writing. For reading, I mostly stick with a "good ole' fashioned book" but I would sometimes pick up my Nook. For writing, I prefer creating on Word or Google Docs for longer works, but handwritten for short. Throughout much of my literacy history, I have stuck with one site, though: Quotev. Quotev is essentially the lesser-known cousin of Wattpad, but it has less limits. I have been reading and writing stories on there since I was 12 years old. Don't think I am promoting the site though - they are very unprofessional, wacky, and ridden with spelling errors. In a sense, they are my guilty pleasure.

My Own Tutoring:

Tutoring is a newer aspect in my life. I loved peer editing throughout school, so I decided to become a tutor when I started college. I started with my little sister. She was about 10 years old when I began professionally tutoring her. We started with all subjects, but we've whittled it down to Math, Spanish, and English. The confidence I gained from working with my sister helped me to move on to others. Now, I tutor about 6 different kids in topics ranging from 1940's history to intermediate Spanish to advanced English. I am constantly improving my techniques and continuously learning to incorporate technology into the work.