The first tutoring practice came to life last week.  I was hoping that I could be of assistance to the tutee.  I kept reminding myself that I had to be nice and claim (in my face expression) even though a paper might look “all over the plate”.  Recalling the first time I saw other fellow student’s paper through peer review in a Psychology class last semester, I was panicking and speechless.  Since her paper was full of LOC problem, readers could not be possible to understand the writer’s main idea or HOC. I even thought she was not college ready. Please don’t get me wrong.  Obviously I am not yet a good writer.  I always ask my husband’s assistance to proofread all my paper with respect to the LOC.  Most of the time, I allowed myself to be careless in these LOC problems and rely on other’s help.  This is my point…if I can see there are problems that are a real problem!

Back to my first tutoring practice, thank goodness that our class was informed of the topic and its guideline.   I was able to read ahead and got some ideas of it.  I started the session by introducing myself and asking for his.  The tutee had a two pages draft on the assigned topic-Is gentrification a benefit to urban development or not (a cancer) ? He felt there were problems in his paper but he could not figure out what these problems were.  I suggested that the tutee to read aloud himself. (I find it works well in peer review session and usually students will be able to fix their own spelling problem easily)  After reading the introduction paragraph, I found that there was not clear that the student’s intention as to agree or disagree with the topic issue.  When the read aloud continued, I found that he seemed positive to the issue (gentrification benefits urban development).  However, by the end his reading, he told me that, as more information unfolded, he now wanted to flip his support of the topic issue.  I then asked for the due date of his paper and he said the paper was already past due.  I suggested him to stay where he was since the time constraint he faced.  He seemed OK with it. 

Although the tutee had written two pages of his assignment, he was not clear as to what side to stand for.  It rendered no argument in his paper.   I suggested him to read more articles, news, related materials online or in library.  It is important to see both sides of views and find things he agrees upon and/or vice verse. Afterward he should be able to incorporate his own ideas and makes a stronger support for his argument regardless what sides he takes on the topic issue.  After discussing how to brainstorm the topic issue, I got down to the structure of his paper like introduction, support, detail, evidence, conclusion and the like.  Then we moved on to the thesis, which he had yet had one.  This was a hard one since the tutee had yet framed on what sides to stand for. 
At the end of the session, the tutee expected me to give him a thesis and the topic sentence of his paper. I told him that I was not sure if I could do so.  I am afraid to be a co-author of his paper so I limit myself to general ideas and structure on his paper rather than any kind of directly input.