To become a tutor we have to understand that the people that come to us may be sensitive to being tutored. We learn to respect others and not belittle them during a tutoring session. We avoid comments that would be offensive or otherwise discourage clients from coming to Studio C (aka the Writing Center). We also avoid taking over or adding our own ideas; the work should always be the client's. Tutors are trained to work with all types of students from AP students to the ESOL students. Tutors should demonstrate leadership in the classroom and need to take the ideas of others seriously and respect those that may differ from your own. As tutors we learn to how to tutor all types of work from the basic math to college essays. At the beginning of the year we practiced by tutoring each other, and now we're working with students from all over AHS!
-- by Foster and Mrs. Baran
Friday, October 31, 2014
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Cell Parts With Mr. Plowman's Class
Studio C is not just a place for individual people seeking assistance. It is also useful for classes that need assistance in studying a certain subject. Mr. Plowman’s biology class came to help understand and study the functions of different parts of the cell. We had different stations for his students to go to, and each station had an activity that made them look at the cell parts and their functions in a creative way.
In one station, students created a town/facebook page/dating profile of each part of the cell. In the second station, students made clay models of cells and their parts, indicating on a dry erase board the different functions. In the third station students invented dance moves to represent the functions of each cell. In the last station, students worked together to create a rap song about the functions.
Tutors walked around and asked questions and helped with ideas, but most of the work was led by the students themselves, which is crucial to mastering the material.
-- a guest post by Alexandra Moreira
College Essays with AVID Seniors
Hello! AVID 12 came down to Studio C to work on their college essays that are required for their college application process, which is a main, main, main factor to their admission into their college of their dreams. The AVID seniors felt very daunted by the idea that complete strangers were going to read their personal lives on a piece of paper. I felt the same way (being a senior myself.) We were just apprehensive about having someone that we do not talk to on a regular basis or, for that matter, do not even know. The tutors did a very good job with respecting everyone’s privacy and starting off with a comfortable atmosphere. The AVID Seniors were antsy, but they loosened up, when they became comfortable with the tutor.
For example, one of the AVID Seniors was refusing to let anyone who was not an adult to read her essay because it was really personal to her. Once she stepped into Studio C, a tutor she knew dearly was her choice and the relief spread across her face. Other students who did not want to use their rough draft from the year before, had the choice to go into different room with Mrs. Baran to brainstorm ideas about what they want to write their next essays about.
-- guest post by Tracy
Monday, October 27, 2014
Field trip to UVa
On Thursday September 25th, the Albemarle Peer Tutors went to the University of Virginia to conquer the low ropes course and visit a Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, Valerie Gregory, to get some insight on what an outstanding college essay would look like.
Leaving school at 9:30 a.m., we piled onto a bus and traveled a measly ten minutes to UVA. First things first after arriving, we all wrote our names on a name tag and formed a circle to listen to the leaders of the field trip on safety requirements and rules. We then paired off into groups of ten students or so and went with our group leader to our first destination. At the low ropes course, there were two options we could have chosen to participate in. One was called the swing, where in your harness, you were hoisted up to the tree tops and then unhitched so that you swing like a pendulum for a couple minutes. The other choice was a ropes course that you got to climb on. There were three ways you could climb up. Each section started with a cargo net and then branched off into different obstacles. The climber is supported by three other people on the ground who had to ensure that the climber wouldn’t fall to the ground.
After that, we went to Ohill and ate lunch like real UVa students. We then walked to meet Valerie Gregory and sat and listened to her talk about college in general and more specifically, college essays. She read aloud a couple of essays that had outshined the rest and that reflect someone who would be a UVa student. The trip was a great way to get the energy flowing between all of the tutors and create a sense of community and even family amongst the tutors. I personally really enjoyed this trip partly because it was outside and we all could talk out solutions and partly because each person in writing center seemed at ease and no one had an attitude about being active and working as a team.
-- a guest post by Mattie B.
Leaving school at 9:30 a.m., we piled onto a bus and traveled a measly ten minutes to UVA. First things first after arriving, we all wrote our names on a name tag and formed a circle to listen to the leaders of the field trip on safety requirements and rules. We then paired off into groups of ten students or so and went with our group leader to our first destination. At the low ropes course, there were two options we could have chosen to participate in. One was called the swing, where in your harness, you were hoisted up to the tree tops and then unhitched so that you swing like a pendulum for a couple minutes. The other choice was a ropes course that you got to climb on. There were three ways you could climb up. Each section started with a cargo net and then branched off into different obstacles. The climber is supported by three other people on the ground who had to ensure that the climber wouldn’t fall to the ground.
After that, we went to Ohill and ate lunch like real UVa students. We then walked to meet Valerie Gregory and sat and listened to her talk about college in general and more specifically, college essays. She read aloud a couple of essays that had outshined the rest and that reflect someone who would be a UVa student. The trip was a great way to get the energy flowing between all of the tutors and create a sense of community and even family amongst the tutors. I personally really enjoyed this trip partly because it was outside and we all could talk out solutions and partly because each person in writing center seemed at ease and no one had an attitude about being active and working as a team.
-- a guest post by Mattie B.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Presentation skills with AVID 10
As we are beginning a new year in the writing center, which is now called Studio C, we are excited to start working with new groups and classes in Albemarle High school. AVID has been a prominent and great part of our school. We were excited to work with the 10th grade AVID students to help them improve presentation skills that they used for Tutorials (an AVID activity where groups help each student answer a difficult question using questioning techniques).
We had learned about some presentation skills and we were ready to help others learn them. The tutors worked in partners to help a group of three clients. We discussed presentations and if we were comfortable presenting in front of big groups. Then we discussed some new skills that we learned, which we applied later in a little activity. Each individual in the group picked a topic to present about for sixty seconds. After each presentation, we shared our thoughts and comments. We also practiced keeping a discussion going by responding to each other. It was a pleasant experience to work in a group as it was a discussion and a presentation of its own. It was also a unique session as it was more of a discussion and action intensive, but it was definitely enjoyable.
-- guest post by Fatima Y.
We had learned about some presentation skills and we were ready to help others learn them. The tutors worked in partners to help a group of three clients. We discussed presentations and if we were comfortable presenting in front of big groups. Then we discussed some new skills that we learned, which we applied later in a little activity. Each individual in the group picked a topic to present about for sixty seconds. After each presentation, we shared our thoughts and comments. We also practiced keeping a discussion going by responding to each other. It was a pleasant experience to work in a group as it was a discussion and a presentation of its own. It was also a unique session as it was more of a discussion and action intensive, but it was definitely enjoyable.
-- guest post by Fatima Y.
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