Blog 17: Analyze the notes from Blog 16 using the following approach.
- What Analysis Shows: I'm GOING TO FOCUS ON Periods of SILENCE.
- Summary of Observation
This session took place on a Thursday at noon. There are two distinct differences between the student and tutor. These differences are age and race. The student is African American and the tutor is Caucasian. The student is also in her early twenties, while the tutor is in her late forties or possibly early 50’s. What is clear from this observation is that the tutor was the one who took control over the session. The tutor did most of the talking while the student listened and wrote and answered the questions that the tutor asked. The student’s answers were short while the tutor continued to elaborate on the topic. In addition, in terms of body language, the tutor keeps a pen in her hand and traces in the air above the students sentences without actually underlining the words. After a short period of time, the student started to trace her pen over the sentences without actually underlining the words either. In addition, the student’s voice was much softer than the tutor’s voice.
- Develop detailed descriptions of what took place in the session (actors, actions, contexts + outcomes) = the evidence you will analyze
This observation focused on the interactions between two people. These two people were the student and the tutor. The student is African American and the tutor is Caucasian. The student is also in her early twenties, while the tutor is in her late forties or possibly early 50’s. During this session, the student brought in an analysis paper for her English 1030 course. Throughout the session, the tutor and the student were the only people seated at the hexagonal shaped table. The writing center was quiet. She was the only student present. There was however another tutor was present in the center, along with me (the graduate assistant) and a receptionist.
During the session, the tutor continued to talk and asked a series of close ended questions. The tutor asked these questions without leaving the student a chance to answer each one. She asked one after another to possibly create a point. She spoke fast. While they spoke they were both sitting eye level of each other. During this particular part of the session, the paper is directly in front of the student not J. Based on this portion of the observations, it shows that that tutor asked more close ended questions that open ended questions. This allowed the student to answer briefly.
Here is an example of what was said .Please keep in mind that “Coach M” stands for tutor and “Student Z” indicates student.
Student Z holding her pen in her hand with two hands. She looks down and slightly slouches. There is a space between them. A chair can fit in the middle. Coach M has her pen tracing along the paper while she reads and the student the pen in her right hand.
Coach M: what else do you want to tell me?
Student Z: has a very soft voice and Coach M speaks kind of loud but not yelling- just speaking directly to the student.
Coach M: don’t’ worry about punctuation or grammar. We are free writing, tell me everything really quickly .
Student Z speaks so softly that I can’t hear her.
As they talk about the paper, Coach M says okay what else? Coach M twirls the pen in her hand. The student continues to talk about her paper and is speaking too softly for me to hear. Meanwhile, Coach M leans forward whenever Student Z speaks.
Coach M:s okay what does that mean?
Student Z talks.
Coach M: Why don’t you write that down? It is important. How big is it? It must be expensive. You want to tell me that. What is it? It is bigger than my house. Do I have room for this . Do I have to move out? How do I Do it? Okay so you want to tell me…
Coach M: : I’m sure you want to tell me. It has lots of wires and someone who knows how to do it as well.
The tutor directed the student in what she should do for the paper. Therefore the student was listening for most of the time instead of talking. However, the student was able to get writing done. She even read out loud but did not talk as much as the tutor did.
In addition, throughout the entire session, the tutor kept a pen in her hand and the student constantly touched the paper with the pen and touched her face with the pen as well. She was also touching her cell phone that was located in the pockets of her sweat shirt.
- Interpretation of Analysis
It appeared that Coach M was focusing on some high order concerns however she seemed to be teaching instead of actually allowing the student to negotiate her choices or explain what she wanted to do with her paper. The student needed to work on her thesis and organization of the ideas. It was clear that the tutor was trying to get the student to elaborate on those points but it seemed as though the tutor was telling the student what to do. It can be the differences in age that may impact the tutoring session. The section of the essay was analyzed according to the following categories: Body Language, Conversation, and Tone of voice.
Body Language: Initially, the tutor and student were sitting next to each other. They were both sitting upright and the tutor had a pen in her hand. Later on towards the end of the session, the student was somewhat slouching and tutor was sitting up right. The tutor kept the pen in her hand the whole time and would trace over the student’s sentences with her pen without actually writing on it. While the tutor did this, there were instances in which the student would do the same thing. However when the coach spoke to the student she would put her hands in her pocket and hold her cell phone. Coach M looked directly at the student whenever she spoke to her and the student would look up and then back down at her paper.
In addition, the student slightly slouches. This could indicate that she was not comfortable with her paper or that she may be relaxed. Meanwhile, Coach M would either lean forward or sit upright.
Conversation
Based on the observations, the student did not speak as much as the coach did. The coach asked a combination of open and closed ended questions consecutively which may not have given enough time for the student to process them. The student often answered in short sentences and the tutor spoke longer in longer more direct statements.
Tone of Voice
Coach M spoke in a louder voice than the student. The student was very soft spoken. It was difficult for me to understand what she was saying. This can indicate that the coach was confident in what she was saying but the student may not have been sure of herself. In addition, the tone of voice that the coach used appeared to be a tone that many “teachers” use in a classroom.
· Analyze the relationships within the evidence by identifying + explaining important cause and effect(and other) relationships
Because the tutor leaned forward and the student slouched, this may indicate that the tutor subconsciously showed authority in the session. She also traced over the students paper with her pen which may have given the student the impression that it was like a “teacher centered” setting.
In addition, the student would put her hands her pocket while the coach spoke.
In terms of tone of voice, it appeared that the tutor was more direct and loud. This too may have given the student the impression that the tutor was the expert. This too may indicate why it appeared that the tutor had control over the session. The student was soft spoken and may have been unsure of her writing.
In terms of conversation, the tutor asked many questions, both open ended and closed ended. Although she may have been attempting to clarify the focus of the paper, she may not have given enough time for the student to process the questions because they were consecutive and the tutor spoke in a faster speed as she asked the questions.
- Discuss the relationships between your analysis and your overall point
Based on my analysis, the factors that influenced who took control of the session include the tutor’s age, body language, tone of voice, direct statements and rapid consecutive closed ended questions. It was evident that the tutor displayed authority in the session because of the way she was positioned, with her pen tracing over the students paper as she leaned forward. It showed that the student may not have been confident based on the way she was slouching with her hands in her pocket. Age may have also played a factor in the session. The tutor was much older than the student, which may have given the student the impression that the tutor could have been a teacher. In addition, because the tutor spoke louder with direct statements and fast paced open and closed ended questions, the student may have been under the impression that the session was "teacher based". Finally, the last reason why it seems as though the tutor had control of the session was because she spoke during the majority of the session.
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