Shadowing #5

This week in the Writing Centre, I observed a more directive session. The student came in with a Core paper, and although she had some good ideas, they didn't translate very well onto the paper. Some of the main concerns Helen had were that the student did a lot of plot summary versus analysis, and that her sentences weren't well constructed so they caused the reader confusion. To fix this problem, Helen asked the student a lot of questions. By explaining the point behind each summary, and what she meant at every confusing instant, the student essentially made all of the amendments herself.

On another note, something else happened during the session that I think is worth talking about, even if its more or less a common sense issue. The student started coughing a bit at one point in the session; she posited that she was having an allergic reaction to something in the room. Helen told her she could get a drink, but even after she came back, the coughing didn't stop. After a few minutes, Helen suggested that they switch rooms and we all got up and went to the waiting area. The student was relieved and could concentrate better now that she wasn't embarrassed about coughing so much. I think it was very observant of Helen to pick up on the coughing. However, I think it's more important that she considered the comfort of her student and gave her the option of going to another room, rather than feeling like the consultation had to be done in the Writing Centre. This was a really small gesture, but I'm not sure everyone would have done it. Its key to be flexible with students and their needs, in order to have a successful session, and although we've talked about SCS and ESL students, I think physical considerations should be entered into this equation as well.