This post was first published by Upswing on 10/4/2021 under the title, "Kicking off National Tutoring Week Celebrations." National Tutoring Week is October 4th–8th! We asked students to nominate the Upswing tutor who has impacted them the most so we can celebrate and honor them during Tutor Week!
Kassie Lamoreaux was nominated as one of our honorees 🎊 Kassie has been a synchronous and asynchronous writing tutor with Upswing since 2015. With over 15 years of experience in tutoring writing and over 8 years of teaching college ESL (English as a Second Language) and Freshman Composition, it’s no wonder she’s so skilled at guiding students through their writing assignments. During her time with Upswing, she has completed over 1,000 live sessions with students, and reviewed and provided feedback on over 500 student essays! Students describe Kassie as having a “cheery, optimistic attitude,” “very engaged,” “motivated,” and “the absolute best!” As an Upswing team member, Kassie is warm, kind, enthusiastic, and an asset to both the management and tutor team. Read Kassie’s thoughts on tutoring with Upswing, below. Q: Why do you choose to tutor with Upswing? A: “I love the schedule flexibility and the Upswing platform, but more than anything, I love our students! The tutor support and resources are also fantastic, and I feel appreciated for the work I do, which is always nice.” Q: What’s your favorite aspect of tutoring in general? A: "Breaking down and simplifying a task and/or helping students take ownership of their own writing process.” Q: Tell us why you think education/access to academic support is so important. A: “It’s important to have academic support like tutoring because not everyone learns the same way. Upswing makes individualized learning possible for everyone, no matter his/her learning style.” Q: What has been one of your most memorable “breakthrough moments” while tutoring? A: “Oh, I’ve had too many to count, but more recently, I worked with a student who didn’t understand the researching process. Talking her through the various stages and giving her permission to make mistakes along the way, especially while drafting, seemed to relieve a lot of her stress.” Q: What is one pro tip/best practice you can share with fellow tutors? A: “Always ask students what they’re working on and what they’d like to “get out” of the session. Too often, we’re tempted to jump in without asking questions, but it’s easy to jump the gun and confuse students by assuming you know what they need. Setting goals for a session should always be negotiated, and the best way to start is by asking good questions about the assignment (eg. purpose, audience, length, requirements, due date, etc.) before offering any kind of help.”
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Traditionally speaking, there are two types of tutoring (and teaching for that matter!): 1) synchronous 2) asynchronous. Synchronous tutoring is your typical real-time experience, in-person or virtual. Students meet in and interact with their tutor, asking questions and receiving answers and feedback to their writing in real-time. This is, I think, what we most often envision when we think about tutoring writing. (It's also what I talk most about in my blog!) Today, I want to talk about the second type of tutoring: asynchronous (sometimes lovingly referred to as async). I want to do this (mostly) because I recently co-presented a workshop on async best practices to a group of online tutors, so async ideals are fresh on my mind. Also because async tutoring seems to be popping up more and more as online education grows and/or becomes more of a necessity. Lastly, I want to share my thoughts on async tutoring because I love it! It's a fantastic way to reach students who are extremely busy and cannot make an appointment in the Writing Center or are shy about meeting with a tutor or teacher in-person. Async isn't "new," (although some colleges claim that it is). After all, I first learned about async tutoring in 2004! But this type of tutoring is growing as our technology continues to become more and more advanced. Technology aside, at the heart of every tutoring session, synchronous or async, I believe there should be a good balance between "higher order" and "lower order" writing concepts taught and encouraged in a tutoring writing session. But I'm getting ahead of myself... What does an async tutoring session (aka: assignment review) look like? For lack of a better description, async tutoring is similar to your old-school pen paling days, except instead of writing a letter to ask about your pen pal's day, you're writing to a tutor and asking for help on your writing assignment. The writing tutor will then review your paper and give you a list of strengths and suggestions for improvements and, essentially, write a letter back to you so you can revise your essay before submitting for a final grade. This "letter" can take several forms. The classic is the "Dear [Student Name], thank you for sharing your [assignment title, i.e rhetorical analysis] essay for a review! Three strengths are...[include list of strengths]. Three things you might want to keep working on are... [include list of specific suggestions]. Keep up the great work! Sincerely, [Tutor Name]." You can also have "fancier" forms, namely by using a template. For example, the student's paper can be pasted (by the writing tutor) into the template and the tutor would give in-line comments (ideally full sentences packed with critical thinking questions or comments that guide the student into better organization, content, and clarity). Afterwards, the tutor could list the three (or more) strengthens using bullets and summarize the main suggestions using bullets points. The template might, then, include a generic "encouraging" closing, reminding students to submit again or meet with a tutor in-real time. Best practices During my training workshop, I shared a sample essay. (Oftentimes looking at examples the best way to learn, I think!) I was especially fortunate to have had a student who was happy enough with her review that she not only was willing to let me use the review in our training but also tell me what she enjoyed most about my review to her. I'll share a few of her favorite techniques throughout this post. Every tutor has their own style or personal twist to tutoring, I've noticed, but like in the training I did, I can share some best practices for async tutoring that will hopefully apply to most tutors wanting to improve their craft. Tip #1 Be specific! For one tutoring company I work for, we use a template and use the "review" function in Word document as we read the draft. This means that I can highlight specific moments in the document and make suggestions "in the moment." If you choose to do this, I recommend highlighting complete sentences or phrases, rather than a random word in a sentence. Not only do you want me to be specific with what you highlight, though, but also in your comments. If, for example, you're giving a compliment (eg. Nice thesis statement!), be sure to explain why the thing you are complimenting is working (eg. Not only is your thesis placed well, as your last sentence in your introduction, which most teachers like, but it also clearly states your position for your argument!) If you're pointing out an opportunity for change (eg. This sentence might not be the best topic sentence for this paragraph), explain wither why you're giving that suggestion and/or briefly teach (eg. Topic sentences, remember, don't usually work well when they're facts. I wonder if you can adjust this statement into a claim and/or move this as a supporting detail for your paragraph). Tip #2 Provide resources! My tutoring (and teaching) philosophy has always included autonomy, which simply means that I want my students to have what they need to do their work confidently on their own. So, if in an assignment review I see a need for a specific change (eg. incorporating topic sentences), I like providing brief youtube videos and/or webpages that give examples and further explanations. This technique was well liked by the student I talked to. She specifically mentioned that she liked that I provided so many resources. Providing links, as a bonus, often makes completing the review on my end that much faster. ;) Tip #3 Ask questions! Thoughtful questions often critical thinking faster than anything else. They can also help students see where readers might be confused or where they might need to expand their ideas. CRLA calls this technique use of probing questions. It's something I use a lot in live-sessions as well! These are just a few beginner tips. As in any writing tutoring session, you'll want to balance your feedback. Make sure your comments are mainly focused on higher order concerns (thesis statement, organization, unity, coherence, clarity, critical thinking, etc.) and not on grammar and spelling. Oftentimes, when I see a typo, I'll point it out, but I don't fix it. I'll say something like, "Oops! Make sure read out loud. This will help you find typos like this one." Or something like, "You might want to review verb tenses as it looks like you're using the present progressive when simple present tense is preferred when talking about habits." And then link them to a reliable resource!
Async tutoring is not editing. I think, too often, tutors think that if they don't point out every error the student will somehow be disappointed in the review. Yes, point out grammatical error patterns, but remember always that what you're looking at (as a tutor!) is a draft, not a final product. Your job is not to grade the paper. So look for those higher order things because (frankly) the grammar will shift anyhow after they change their thesis, incorporate topic sentences, expand their ideas, etc. If your a student, interested in submitting a paper for a review, be sure to give your tutor as much information about the assignment as possible, and always say when it's due. This will help your tutor tailor their comments to your needs better. Writing letters back and forth may sound archaic, but it's really oftentimes the best way to reach those busy-busy students that need a 24-48 hour turn around! In an earlier post, I mentioned the low student enrollment at our colleges right now. I don't have the figures in front of me, although the English chair at my college did share them with me recently. I think, overall, we're down 33% we were last year. But if we drill that number down and look at simply the ESL enrollment at my community college, we're down 77%. Oi! As disheartening as these statistics are, they aren't surprising to me. (Again, I explain in another post why I think ESL students aren't enrolling for college right now.) The fact of the matter is, there simply isn't a lot of opportunity for teaching at the college. Not for part-time folks like me and especially if I want a class of ESL students. Thankfully, my backup gig is seeing us through! I work for an online tutoring company (Upswing), which serves over 60 different colleges across the USA. I've previously talked about Upswing and my love for coaching writing with them, so I won't go too much into that in this post. Let's instead talk about ESL cravings. It may sound strange to someone outside my field, but it's a thing! I've talked to other TESOL instructors, many of whom have had to straddle various jobs, either tutoring writing or teaching freshman comp, for example, and they've expressed the same cravings or wants. They're often coupled with travel cravings, so if you've ever had the traveling bug, you know what I'm talking about! I'm very happy with my main sources of income (at the college and at Upswing), but there are times when I wish I worked with more ESL students. Yes, I see them sometimes at Upswing, but not often enough... About two weeks ago, I started looking into additional tutoring gigs, not because I need something more during the semester but because I wanted to connect with ESL students! A friend of mine suggested VIP kids and Magic Ears, both of which have pretty flexible schedules and decent pay. He really likes it and encouraged me to apply. I didn't end up doing that, mostly because I'm not fond of waking up at 4am, but also because I'm not that great with kids. Not yet anyway. Maybe someday I'll be better at it. But for now, I'd like to stick with adults. That was about the time I remembered Cambly. Another friend of mine, who also teaches at the community college, told me she really likes tutoring with them, so I looked into it. They pay dirt (only about $10 an hour), but that doesn't bother me! I already have two good paying jobs. Besides, I think the learners pay out of their pocket, and I'd prefer it to be cheap so they can connect more easily.
Two things I like about Cambly: 1. It's centered around natural, free-flowing conversation! Not only is it fun to talk to people around the world, but it's just what these students need. Practice, practice, practice, right? It's a pretty brilliant concept, and I'm glad I found it, not only to satisfy my ESL cravings, but also to help students around the world. 2. It isn't tied to a semester! People always say to teachers, "You're so lucky you get winter break and summers off!" Sometimes it is a relief to get major holidays off. But sometimes, it's not. What some people don't know is that a lot of teachers aren't paid during their breaks. Money can be especially tight in the summer if you can't find a teaching gig. Covid has created a boost in summer tutoring, but even tutoring (in normal times) can be a dud. College students, too, (as you can imagine) want to take time off from their students. So, having something that isn't tied to a specific semester schedule is kind of nice! Cambly learners aren't always students. Sometimes they're people trying to keep up with their English (so they don't lose it) or want to improve their English because they want better job opportunities. It's kind of a crazy world right now! But I will say this: I'm glad I have a degree and passion for teaching that allows me to look into all kinds of job opportunities.
NOTE: Cambly doesn't require a TESOL certificate or even Bachelor's, so if you're a native speaker of English (or have exceptionally good English) and need some extra cash (or just want to connect with people around the world!) you might want to look into tutoring ESL online. This post was first published on Upswing's blog on May 20, 2020. I started peer tutoring at the Writing Center when I was a college student and thought tutoring was just something that paid the bills while I was going to school. I quickly learned, however, that tutoring was (and is) so much more for me! Even though I was getting my degree in English, I wasn’t planning on becoming a teacher. It wasn’t until I took some time away from school and tutoring that I realized how important helping other writers was to me. I switched gears and added teaching as my emphasis and specialized in English to Speakers of Other Languages. For a year or so, I taught full time as a college instructor, and I was happy. But there was something missing… Maybe I was experiencing teacher burnout, but I knew that nothing gave me greater joy than helping writers identify their own strengths and weaknesses in their writing, think critically about their ideas, organization and writing processes, and improve not only their drafts, but also themselves as writers. I had to remember what had gotten me into teaching in the first place. I decided to cut back on my teaching load and started tutoring again… but this time with Upswing! Coaching for Upswing is great because we’re contracted with a lot of schools, so the opportunities for me to reach struggling writers is far reaching. This is important to me because I had cheerleaders and mentors that helped me get through college, and I don’t know where I’d be without them. Recently, I decided to explore my own writing abilities. I wrote a book! It took me four years to write the first draft, but I did it. Now I’m rewriting, getting feedback from others in the writing community, and improving it, which is basically what students do at a smaller scale when they complete their writing assignments. It’s no wonder that through my writing journey, I’ve gained even more empathy for struggling writers. Writing is tough, y’all!
So is math, science, and learning a foreign language… or any subject in college for that matter. Everyone could use a mentor, coach, and cheerleader to get them through tough times. That’s what Upswing is all about, and I’m proud to play my small part in it. I love teaching, but I really love tutoring. For me, one-on-one situations with students is where I feel I make the biggest and best impacts. That's probably why my get-through-college-job turned into an (almost) full-time tutoring gig! Concerns I decided I couldn't get enough of tutoring, so much so that I started tutoring online. The idea was exciting, but as I filled out the paperwork to join the Upswing tutoring team, I had a few concerns:
I give credit to Upswing's design team, of course who had coaches (tutors) in mind as they built it. But my transition was so seamless, also, because I remembered what I already knew... (More on that later.) Making the switch As I'm writing this post, we're in the midst of social distancing regulations for CORVID-19. Universities, community colleges and K-12 schools alike have had to make the switch to online. Some people are having a harder time with that request than others. Those who normally (and only) do their work in-person may feel like they've been thrown into the deep end! Well, this blog post is for you. I'm going to share with you some tricks I've learned over my four or so years of tutoring online: Technology I'm not going to talk too much on the different types of technology out there to accomplish your needs. (google hangouts, CraniumCafe, Webex, Skype, etc). You probably already know a bunch of them anyway. I'm also not going to talk about different learning platforms (Canvas, Blackboard, etc.) because most likely your supervisors or team members will suggest or require you to use a particular type of technology to connect with students. Instead, I'd like to focus on some tutoring tips when working online, which will hopefully be applicable to whichever technology you choose to go with. Tip #1 Tech-check This can come in various forms. For me on Upswing, it means I'm testing out the audio and video capabilities. "Can you hear me? Can you see me? Good. I cannot see you. Oh! I can see you and hear now. Hello!" I recommend doing this at the beginning of all of your sessions, but make it quick! Establish what is or is not working and then move on the best you can. My tech-check hardly ever goes over 5 minutes. If it does, I suggest that we stop and reschedule once we can get the tech working again. During my tech-check, I usually add something like, "If for some reason you can't hear me anymore, let me know." This is also the moment where I let them know what other features we have our our platform, specifically the chat box: "There's a chat box under the videos," I might say. "We can use that as an alternate form of communication if we need to!" This eliminates that what-do-I-do element, in case the audio and/or video stops working during the session. In Upswing, we have an inbox, so if you lose the student completely during a session, you can message them and let them know you're still in the "room/meeting" or give other directions to help them come back into the session. WebCams & other features Sometimes students don't have a webcam or they prefer not using it. That's fine! For me, it took a little getting used to, but as long as you have good audio or a functioning chat box, it's doable, I promise! Bonus trick: I always start my sessions with video and audio if I can. Of course, if you have a camera, make sure you:
Tip #2 Firefox or Chrome Let's say a student is having some tech-problems and they want to fix them. My first question is always, "What browser are you using?" Nine times out of ten, if they're using Internet Explorer or Safari, they're going to crash. I've found success in having a student sign out and come back in using a different browser. Tip #3 Screen-sharing This is a feature we have on Upswing and it works really nicely! Other programs have them, too. I've found, however, that it takes a lot of juice to run it. My suggestion, then, is to screen-share for short bursts. For example, I might share a webpage (like Purdue OWL) briefly and then turn off the screen-share while I answer questions, etc. Tip #4 Built in tool bars, etc. I've had tutors ask me, "So, can I write on a piece of paper and hold that to the WebCam?" That's one way to tutor online, but I don't recommend it. Give it a try if your adamant, of course. It might work for some students, but probably not for most. I suggest, instead, using a whiteboard, googledoc, or some sort of shared space. These are usually built into your program. It can be intimidating to use them, I know. But the more you try out those built in features (like highlighting, type-text, drawing, etc). the more familiar the tools will be to you, and the more second nature they will become. Tip #5 Collaborate Whenever possible, invite students to "jump in" and use those features we talked about in Tip #4. Collaboration is what makes in-person tutoring so valuable, and isn't great that we can utilize this same skill online? This, again, will take some practice, but I like say things like, "Why don't you give it a try?" or "How about you write me that thesis statement on the whiteboard here so we can see it together." As you get more comfortable with the features, you'll be able to guide students in using them, too. Tip #6 Remember what you already know Lastly, my final tip is to remember what you already know. This may sound intuitive, but (believe me), it's easy to get overwhelmed with technology or feel like you're starting at square one in teaching or tutoring. But if you've been tutoring for a while (like I had before I starting tutoring online), then you already know how to:
Of course, if you feel rusty on these skills or need a refresher, you can learn them from the CRLA program or by continuing to read my blog! Bonus Videos This first video was made by our Student Affairs person. She gives great general tips for working from home. Enjoy! This second video is for educators struggling to keep up with our changing times. It was written and performed by someone in my district: You will survive! My best friend is teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in China. (Well, technically it's called English as a Foreign Language--- EFL) She's been asked to teach an ESP (English for Special Purposes) course. Engineering. Neither of us know anything about engineering. She's been doing as much research as she can as she meaningfully puts her lesson plans together, but she sent me an email an hour ago pleading for online resources. As many of you may know, China has a lot of restrictions on their Internet use; therefore, her resources are limited. I did some googling. I found some stuff. I turned them into pdfs for my friend. In the process, I found some new favorite websites! This experience has gotten me thinking about my favorite ESL online resources, so today I will share with you 5 of my favorite online resources. I could have done more, but 5 just seemed like a nice number. Let's get started! 1. Dave's ESL Cafe This is a classic website. If you teach ESL and you haven't heard of Dave's ESL Cafe, you haven't lived! Find lots of great videos, idioms, exercises and more! 2. English Page I regularly send my students to this website, especially if they have problems with verb tenses, which is my favorite feature in this website. I love all the verb tense diagrams and endless practices. 3. ESL Right Now This is one of the sites I found when I was helping my friend look for Engineering stuff. Even though I don't teach ESP, it's a site I'll probably use in the future because there's more to it than ESP stuff. 4. Using English This is another one of the sites I found when I was helping my friend find things for Engineering. I literally got lost in here! I'll have to keep this one on my radar for sure! 5. Azar Grammar Betty Azar is a genius! If you've been teaching ESL for a while, then you've probably heard of (or used) her famous books. But did you know that she's created PowerPoints for all of her lessons? There are handouts and additional grammar practice, too! You know---- I probably could have gone to 100! It's an awesome time to be an ESL teacher (or ESL student.) I didn't even touch on:
And, of course, there are a number of blogs, like mine, that talk about teaching ESL. Mine is more of a musing, but there are blogs that actually have lesson plans you can steal! Happy teaching! I wrote this for Upswing on August 15, 2016 as a guest blogger.
I thought tutoring online would be really different from face-to-face. I worried (to some degree) because I've nearly perfected my tutoring techniques. I've been tutoring for various college centers since 2005. I didn't want to start all over. Although there are some things I had to get used to---mainly, the technology--- Upswing has made my tutoring online simple and as close to a face-to-face tutoring experience as possible. I have a camera, which means that tutees can always see me. Not only is this helpful for those moments when I explain a concept using my hands, but it gives that personal touch. They see my smiling face. I give them a thumbs-up when they answer my questions correctly or suggest a cool idea! The whiteboard tools make it feel like I'm tutoring face-to-face. I can point with an arrow, circle, draw, highlight with lots of different colors, etc. I didn't know what I was doing the first time I used the whiteboard, but I just played around for a bit, and the more I used them in tutoring sessions, the more comfortable I felt. In addition to these features, I've found that I can use the same (or similar) first four questions that I use in my face-to-face sessions. I tutor writing and ESL, so as you read through them, you might want to think how they can be used while tutoring in your discipline. I'm not including the obvious ones: Can you hear me okay? Can you see me? *thumbs-up* Question 1: What are you working on today? This question does two things. First, it helps me see how much they know about what they're supposed to do. Second, it subtly says that I won't do the work for them. Tutors don't do that. (Sorry!) But we do answer questions and point you in the right direction! Question 2: Do you have your assignment instructions handy? I always invite them to upload the instructions on the whiteboard or download them beforehand. This is because teachers often have special requirements (i.e MLA or APA). I often structure my hierarchy of concerns based on them. (i.e "You must have at least 4 credible sources; no Wikipedia!" etc.) Question 3: When is your assignment due? And how much have you completed? This helps me gauge how much help I can give and/or how many times I might be able to meet with the student. This is when I invite them to upload what they have. (Anything is better than nothing!) If they haven't started, and it's due tonight at midnight, I will talk to them, briefly, about time management. Question 4: What kind of help do you feel like you need from me today? I always take notes for this one (I do this in my face-to-face sessions, too!) because this is the most important question. One, it helps me see why they wanted tutoring in the first place, and I can ensure that I answer their concern before the end of the session. They'll probably get a bit of other help, too, but I'll answer questions about grammar if that's their biggest concern. Two, this instantly puts the focus on the student. This is their time, and they need to know it. Setting the agenda is super important! Whether it's online or face-to-face, it's important to have a human connection with those you're tutoring. You don't have to use these exact first four questions, but you should be thinking about the first things you say and ask the tutee. First impressions are everything, so make sure it's a good one! |
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