Karl's Teaching Portfolio

“Processes and Protocols in Online Tutoring” from A Tutor’s Guide (Cooper, Bui, & Riker)

Online tutoring has permanently reshaped writing centers, requiring tutors to adapt their approaches to remain effective. Key takeaways include:

• First Impressions Matter: Be warm and approachable—overly formal tones can come off as cold. Use small talk to build trust and learn about students’ literacy goals.
• Ask Open-Ended Questions: Have students explain their assignment and challenges in detail.
• Timing & Focus: Choose a time of day when you can be mentally sharp and fully engaged.
• Engage, Don’t Control: Maintain a dialogic (two-way) tone. Avoid dominating the session.
• Modulate Your Voice: Use a friendly, natural tone—less “professional,” more human.
• Avoid Over-Correcting: Prioritize issues. Correcting everything can overwhelm the student and exhaust you.
• Use Gentle Annotation Tools: Track changes and comments in Word are less intimidating than harsh markings.
• Reading Aloud Helps: Encourage students to read their work aloud or use Word’s read-aloud function to catch errors.
• NO ALL CAPS: It feels like yelling.

References 

A tutor’s Guide – Protocols and Process in Online Tutoring, George Cooper, Kara Bui, and Linda Riker

The Article “Flexibility in the Writing Center: One Tutor’s Suggestions for Synchronous Online Sessions”, By Romaisha Rahman, from the University of New Mexico, explores the importance of Flexibility in Writing Mentorship. Flexibility in this context refers to the willingness to use new technologies, invest in new teaching methodologies and teaching mediums.

Teaching had remained relatively unchanged up until the Covid-19 Pandemic in the year 2019, during this once in a lifetime event, teachers worldwide were forced to try new mediums with which to conduct their classes through. New tools, which had previously only seen use in the corporate world, had begun to see use inside the classroom, in addition to other, more obscure teaching tools, that had not yet been fully embraced. Some of the new Tools and teaching mediums include Zoom, Google Meetups, Microsoft Teams & Google Docs. Up until this point in the article, I hadn’t learnt anything new, my life up until recently had always revolved around learning new technologies and interacting through the internet.

Rahaman notes that the use of new Teaching tools requires new teaching methodologies. Rahaman writes “Personally, my grab bag is always growing. As both a current writing instructor and a professional writing tutor, I seek out new tools, applications, and formats to enhance my conferencing sessions; some of the tools I teach myself in my downtime through reading, watching video tutorials, and using hands-on navigation, and some other tools I learn as part of my job requirement. “ (Rahman, 2024) Rahaman sounds almost fantastical in comparison to what I’ve come to expect from the local clientele here in Florida, I find her to be, almost admirable in her pursuits to change with the times, and improve professionally. The notion that she could have some many separate Teaching Methodologies, that she could liken them to having a “Grab bag” of methodologies intriguing, rare, and commendable. I tend to treat my skillset in a similar fashion, my grab bag of skills had long ago expanded to encompass both graphic design and tech support, but the part of this article that floors me is the thought that Rahman, agrees with this mentality, has taken it a step further and developed multiple teaching methodologies in addition to continuing to learn new tech tools! I was honestly just becoming comfortable with the fact that I was the only one approaching knowledge acquisition in this way, to read about Rahaman having multiple teaching methodologies including overlapping technology skillsets with my own, is incredibly motivating and somewhat frightening.

References:

Rahman, R. (2024). Flexibility in the writing center: One tutor’s suggestions for synchronous online sessions. WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship. https://doi.org/10.37514/WLN-J.2024.48.4.05

“Asynchronous Writing Consultations: Incorporating Video Feedback to improve Writing support for graduate students” is an article written by Christina Trujillo from California Polytechnic State University, Kelly Bowker from the University of Michigan and Lauren Hammond from the University of California, Riverside.

References:

Trujillo, C., Bowker, K., & Hammond, L. (n.d.). Asynchronous writing consultations: Incorporating video feedback to improve writing support for graduate students.