Tutoring Best Practices Test Review

During a writing consultation, the student you are working with says she always gets the same grade on her papers. What can you say to encourage the student to keep working on her writing processes? Please select ALL the correct answers.

• "I understand that you are frustrated, but maybe it would help if we reviewed your teacher’s feedback on previous papers."

• Tell the student that you had the same problem when you had her teacher.

• Tell the student that you have felt that way before, but that you know it is possible for grades to reflect improved writing skills on subsequent writing assignments.

• "Don't worry about it. Some teachers just always give low grades. Your paper looks great to me."

A student asks for help with all the commas in her paper, but you notice that the paper lacks strong transitions between main points. The student tells you the paper is due tomorrow. What should you do? Choose the BEST answer.

• Spend entire time going over commas

• Tell the student it is unreasonable to only focus on commas when there are bigger issues to discuss

• Review comma rules, but then ask if there is anything else about the paper the student would like to discuss

• Say, “we can definitely review comma rules, but is there anything about transitions, evidence, or analysis that you would also like to talk about?"

A student tells you that she has no idea what Dickinson’s poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” means, but she is trying to work on her poetry analysis assignment during the writing consultation. What should you do? Choose the BEST answer.

• Explain the poem to the student

• Use guiding questions from the assignment instructions to prompt the student to consider what the poem means.

• Tell her you can’t help her.

• Have her work with a different tutor who know the poem better than you do.

What do you do if you haven’t taken the class the student’s paper is for? Choose the BEST answer.

• Say, “Sorry, I haven’t taken that class so I can’t help you.”

• Ask the student to tell you every detail about the class because otherwise you can’t help them.

• Pretend you have taken the class.

• 1. Tell the student you haven’t taken the class without causing the student to be alarmed.Then, proceed to draw upon your critical thinking skills to assist with the student’s writing.

How do you end a writing consultation? Choose ALL the correct answers.

• Review strategies to apply what you discussed to future assignments

• Say, “Okay, that’s it. Our time is up.”

• Make sure you ask the student if your consultation was helpful and if they have any other questions

• Remind the student to ask their teacher the questions that you advised them to ask during the consultation.

What do you do if a student begins a consultation by telling you she must get an A on her paper? Choose ALL the correct answers.

• Say, “I want to get A’s on my papers too.” But then redirect the student to working on skills rather than getting a particular grade.

• Say, “I always get an A in Ms. Smith’s class when I write a catchy introduction and print my paper on time.”

• Say, “I don’t know how to help you get an A because I’ve never had Ms. Smith as a teacher.”

• Say, “Oh, it’s impossible to get an A in Ms. Smith’s class.”

• "I can’t comment on what grade your paper might receive, but let’s discuss the writing skills your teacher has said to work on in her feedback."

At the end of a writing consultation, you want to praise the student so he feels empowered to keep working on his draft. Choose ALL the correct answers.

• Say, “Your paper looks great!”

• Say, “I think your paper is finished.”

• Say, “You seem a lot more confident about how to select evidence for your argument and you found applicable passages for your paper. I hope you continue to feel confident as you continue writing.”

• Say, “You seem much less confused than everyone else in your class.”

• Say, “As you continue working on your paper, please feel free to come back if you have more questions.”

During a consultation, a few questions arise about the student’s assignment, and you aren’t sure of the answers. What do you do? Choose the BEST answer.

• You write the questions down for her.

• Tell the student to just guess what the teacher wants.

• Remind the student to write down all the questions for her teacher before she leaves the consultation.

• Stop the consultation and go with the student to interrupt the teacher in their classroom.

Writing consultations should only focus on one writing product and the grade the student wants to receive.

• True

• False

Writing tutors should tell students what they have done well in their drafts while being careful not to make evaluative statements that only the teacher grading the paper can make.

• True

• False