Tutoring

I have been a tutor in Agnes Scott’s Center for Writing and Speaking (CWS) since 2018! The CWS is a peer tutoring organization that student writers and speakers develop confidence in their ability to translate thoughts into written work or speeches, to use writing and speaking to express and substantiate their ideas, and to produce a polished final product. Not only do I get to meet with students one-on-one, but I am also serve as a professor aide in first year and 200 level course and as an ambassador for the CWS at different events.

One of my favorite roles in the CWS is my work as the co-chair of the Workshop Committee. The Workshop Committee operates under the mission and purpose of the Center for Writing and Speaking and serves the student body of Agnes Scott College by providing focused, educational workshops catered to their needs and interests. Since I’ve been with the Committee, I have helped produce workshops and handouts on many subjects, including:

The CWS Workshop Committee has been a place where my research in educational studies and applied experience can come together. One of my greatest contributions to this committee was implementing pedagogical process for planning and executing workshops: the GRACE Method. The GRACE Method was developed when the Workshop Committee was putting together a proposal for the Essential Elements of Writing Workshop Series in 2019., and it provides a comprehensive methodology for developing workshops. It is defined as such:

G: Goal       What is the goal of this workshop?

R: Results     What are the learning outcomes for this workshop? What should students be equipped to accomplish following this workshop? How will the results of this workshop benefit the students and the CWS as a whole? 

A: Approach     What methods will be most effective for workshopping the workshop’s topic? Why?

C: Content      What should we cover? What content should be prioritized over others?

E: Evaluation      How will we know our workshop has been successful? What measures can we put in lace that will help us determine our success?

By taking a pedagogical approach to workshop planning, committee members will be able to better plan for the presentation of important concepts. The most unique component of the GRACE Method is its evaluation component, in which the committee proactively sets evaluation criteria, thinking about how students will interact with the content. Defining how the workshop will be evaluated after its completion forces the committee to be more creative and/or realistic about the learning outcomes set for the workshop, and reinforces our committees purpose and goals.

Check out the CWS at Agnes Scott College YouTube Channel to see a few of our workshops!

Over the summer of 2020, I took up private tutoring while I worked on the research for my undergraduate thesis in History. I worked with a student transitioning from middle school to high school, firming his skills in English, Creative Writing, Math, History, and Visual Art.

Private tutoring in this manner was quite different from my daily practices in the Center for Writing and Speaking. In this role, I had more of a direct influence over the student’s learning, which included the development a curriculum of 4 literary units to guide us through the summer months. These units included quizzes, creative projects, worksheets, a customized reading list, and MLA8 formatting exercises. My experiences in the Center for Writing and Speaking did prepare me for the flexibility of switching between subjects and instructional approaches to meet the needs of the student and preferences of his parents! I also just really enjoy when I get to put a curriculum together and it helps the student grow!

All of unit materials are available upon request.