Reflection On Sarah Alford's Session

On October 21, I recorded a 25-minute session with Sarah Alford. We spent the session brainstorming, discussing ways Sarah could research her topic, and planning how Sarah could develop her paper in the most efficient way. By the end of the session, Sarah wrote down a tentative plan to complete the first draft two weeks from now. After I watched the video to review my performance, the video revealed that I have improved in keeping eye contact with the consultant, letting the consultant do most of the talking, and asking appropriate questions to get the consultant thinking; at the same time, the video showed I still have improvements to make with body language and tone of voice. The first question I asked Sarah was, “What would you like …show more content…
When it comes to brainstorming, I think it is important for the tutee to have a comfortable working environment so he or she can explain his or her ideas freely. I think this structure was appropriate for the session because Sarah’s concerns were based on her writing process rather than her actual writing. The way I structure a brainstorming session in general is to start with the instructor’s requirements, then break the prompt down piece by piece. If the student already has ideas, then I will try to find ways the student can see his or her ideas from a different perspective. When a student does not have any ideas, I try as best as I can to not blatantly state ideas; rather, I try to get the student to realize potential ideas by asking the student questions about their paper topic and his or her understanding of the assignment. Between 7:58-8:52, I examined two of Sarah’s research topics, and suggested that she combine the two topics to create a new, and perhaps, interesting perspective to her research. Since she gave me material to work with, I feel that I handled the situation appropriately. She responded positively to the idea and wrote down notes about my …show more content…
The talk ratio was probably 40% me and 60% Sarah. I think this was appropriate considering Sarah was discussing her ideas with the paper. I did my best to not interrupt, and I indicated that I was following her train of thought by saying “okay.” (Note: After watching this video, I realized I said okay at least 20 times.) I believe I was an effective listener because I maintained eye contact when she spoke and nodded in agreement to what she was saying. However, I noticed that my eyes tended to wavier between her and the computer screen. It was appropriate when we were both looking at the computer, but I realize I need to make sure that I am making full eye contact with students rather than staring at their laptops. Sarah’s nonverbal communication and actions indicated that she listened to me when I spoke as well. She nodded and kept eye contact, and as I mentioned before she took notes while I talked. Overall, the video confirmed listening to consultants is one of my