Kayla TS #4

Date/Time: September 11, 2016/10:50 am - 12:00 pm
Location: Tutee's Home
Topic/Skill: Writing an Opinion Essay/Structure and Flow
Feedback provided to tutee:

I told PJ that he needed more description (more examples of his own experiences) on his 3 subtopics and less repetitiveness.  His paper was more generalized and not as personal.  He split two paragraphs talking about the same thing, so I suggested he combine them and talk about his third subtopic in more detail.  Other than those few comments, his structure was good.   He had one major misspelled word: countrys (should be countries).  I did not point out his grammar because he will have to change his essay around, so it would be somewhat pointless.

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned:

This lesson was a continuation of last session.  We reviewed his outline for about five minutes and I allowed him to ask me questions.  The directions were to write a five paragraph essay about why he liked traveling in 40 minutes.  P.J. had a few questions about his essay that I chose not to answer because he needs to figure it out for himself.  I made it clear that it's okay to make a mistake; we were going to go over his essay together.  During the 40 minutes, his traditional pencil broke as well as the sharpener, but he had a mechanical pencil.  I told him he could use the perfectly fine mechanical pencil, but he was so focused on getting a traditional pencil, he told me that the mechanical pencil wasn't a pencil. So I'm not sure if he was trying to waste time by stopping or something, but we definitely have to be prepared with three pencils next time.  Anyways, he finished his essay with about eight minutes left, even after revising it.  So next, I asked him to read his essay aloud to me first.  I should have let him make corrections while he read before we went over it together.  After that, we reviewed his essay paragraph by paragraph.  I tried to get him involved, but it's difficult when it comes to writing.  Not only is he a kid, I tutor him on Saturday as well, and I'm almost positive that he is counting down the time (mainly because he always tells me when my time is up, lol).  So I need to find a more interactive way.  I want him to re-write his essay next lesson to conclude the topic, but I think I should have him do it aloud (not under a time pressure and quiet setting).  Maybe if he thinks aloud, rewriting and revising might be a little easier.  Who knows?  We will see.