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Resources for Tutors

The sources on this page will help tutors with tutoring questions and concerns. Under each link, there is an annotation from a tutor explaining what that tutor found illuminating about each site. We hope you find these beneficial. 

Dickinson Tutor Handbook

Journals and Blogs

WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship 

The Writing Center Journal 

Praxis: A Writing Center Journal

The Dangling Modifier

Peer Centered 

The Peer Review

Tutoring Essays 

Advice for Tutors (Dartmouth College) This really helpful site from Dartmouth covers everything from how to open a session to uncooperative students to controlling the pace of a session. C.H.

Changing Attitudes: Writing Center Workshops in the Classroom (Praxis Writing Center Journal) While much of our work takes place in the Writing Center, the job of a Writing Associate extends outside of the center and into the classroom. Here is a great article discussing the ever-changing and even essential role that a classroom Writing Associate -and the Writing Center in extension - can have on the classroom writing process. The author, Holly Ryan, also offers some great ideas for ways to facilitate a meaningful and mutually beneficial relationship between the WA and the classroom professor. R.W.

My First Session (PeerCentered) Tutors-in-training anticipate and dread their first solo session in the writing center. They wonder what to expect and worry about how much they will actually help a student, both normal and typical sentiments. This blog post gives trainees a realistic look into the "first day at the office," relating a tutor's process during a session and her feelings about its good and bad results. J.D.

Responding to Problems: A Facilitative Approach (Dartmouth College) Once a writing issue has been diagnosed, it can be difficult to articulate the problem with the writer in a way that ensures that both paper and writer can advance.  This site outlines four types of responses: facilitative, directive, corrective, and evaluative.  The author explains when to use each of them in a constructive manner. M.N.

Structure (Dartmouth College) How do you help a writer who is trying to cram her ideas into a five-paragraph essay format? Or one who can't seem to organize her great ideas at all? This site provides tutors with tips for diagnosing the root of disorganization in an essay. It also demonstrates how to integrate techniques like outlining, diagramming, and talking into a tutoring session in order to help a writer structure her paper more effectively. M.K.N.

Tutoring Creative Writing Students Providing feedback for someone's creative work can be tricky. This site describes the common pitfalls of beginning creative writers (such as relying on cliches or being sentimental about subject matter) and provides advice for offering critiques gently and pointing writers in new directions with their work. L.H.

Working with Creative Writing Students: Tutoring Beginning Poets & Fiction Writers Creative writing differs from analytic writing and, therefore, requires different tutoring tactics.  Purdue has created a concise powerpoint analyzing both budding creative writers and their poetry or fiction.  The site explains several common issues and then offers some tutoring tips. M.N.

Tutoring a Resume (Purdue University) What do you do when senior who are on the job market wants you to make sure that they have effective resumes? Do you know what a good resume looks like? Purdue University is here to help. Check out this informative PowerPoint to figure out what you should look for in a resume and how to make sure a potential employer looks twice at a candidate. This website won't just help your tutees; you can glean a lot of information from this site as well. Happy job hunting! C.H.

Using Peer Review to Help Students Improve Their Writing (Washington University in St. Louis) This website introduces various strategies that tutors could use in order to present themselves as a peer, not as an editor. In addition to providing tutors with specific techniques to improve their method of teaching, the site also explains possible student responses to the collaborative learning process. A.F.

Ways of Reading Student Papers (Dartmouth University) It is crucial for writing tutors to have solid reading skills.  This article provides various tips and techniques to help tutors become thoughtful and observant readers who can comprehend a paper's meaning and efficiently formulate critical responses to any issues. Check out this article to improve your reading skills and to create more productive tutoring sessions! E.S.