Tutors are required to complete 10 hours of professional development a semester to enhance the knowledge and skills needed to deliver professional service to Writing Center Clients. Professional development helps tutors make meaningful contributions to the Writing Center team.
Hostos Professional Development Schedule Spring 2015 Seminars meet 3-5 pm in the ENG conference room B-502 2/27: Professional Conduct: Writing Center Atmosphere and Relationships We will discuss how the the type of work we do in the Writing Center reflects the relationships we form with staff members. We will examine how our communication with the director, coordinators, tutors, students, and members in other departments at Hostos affect conferences with students. What type of tone and language should we use in our interactions with staff and students to create a productive work relationship? How can we perform our duties while respecting the positions of authority figures, peers, and students?
3/27: Rules of Writing!: Revising for Grammar, Punctuation, and Mechanics In this seminar, we will discuss the most common grammatical problems that we encounter in the Hostos Writing Center. We will discuss effective strategies to explain grammatical concepts to students and share resources available to teach about style and usage in writing.
4/24: Tutoring Sessions and Types of Students As a tutor, you have the opportunity to help a variety of students at different stages in the writing process. “Some writers-those with writing anxiety, basic writing skills, or learning disabilities, or those for whom English is a second language – may present special challenges for tutors” (The Bedford Guide For Writing Tutors 38)To reflect on the diverse community of students that we service, we will share tutoring experiences with the goal of addressing students’ learning styles, writing levels, and attitudes towards the writing process. We will also view and analyze tutoring videos that showcase scenarios of tutor-student interactions in a writing center. We will use the videos to discover best behavioral practices in tutoring situations with students.
5/8: Reading: Reflections on Practice What makes a reader a good reader? If reading is such a complex cognitive process, how do tutors assist students in this process? In this seminar, we will concentrate on the skills college students need to comprehend texts and read with purpose. We will look at the attitudes both tutors and students have towards reading and how this affects reading comprehension sessions.
Peer Observations A part of advancing your knowledge and skills in tutoring will involve one peer observation per semester. You will informally observe a tutoring session during a free period in your schedule and write about what you learned on the Writing Center blog. In your response, describe the tutoring strategies that engaged your interest and provide two positive comments as well as one area for improvement. To stay current about the most effective trends in tutoring, please complete the observation by Friday, May 8th 2015.