Setting the agenda

I am easily distracted. I can get lost in the beauty of pretty words just as easily as I can get lost in the chaos of a disorganized paragraph. Setting an agenda at the beginning of a tutoring session has helped me work with the tutees who come to the writing center. Having a clear set of goals or tasks to achieve in the session helps me to stay focused on the job at hand. Regardless of the work that I see that I might want to work on, it is important to keep in mind that the session does not belong to me, it belongs to the tutee who has come for my help. I am here to help him or her achieve the goals that he or she has set.

William Macauley Jr. compared setting the agenda to following a road map."I like to think of this plan like planning a trip with a road map. A road map is open ended in that it shows you many possible routes to travel, but the specific course you choose on the map never lets you forget that you're on a purposeful journey to your destination. Charting the course for a tutorial session is also a way to mark, simply and graphically, the things you wnat to do in the tutoring session." Each student who comes to the writing center has a form to record their specific goals for the tutoring session. This is our roadmap. I am sometimes unsure of the propriety of offering advice that does not apply to the specific goals on the form. Will I offend my tutee if I offer additional feedback? What about students who come in, unsure of what help they need? What about the students who simply want me to edit, and "fix" their work? As a teacher, who is accustomed to reaching for the red pen, it has been an adjustment, going from paper grader to writing tutor.