Tutor vs. Teacher

Welcome to Week 10!!! We made it!

This week's blog is a challenge. Teacher vs. Tutor; how do you define the two? According to Merriam-Websters Dictionary, they are very similar.

Definition:  teach·er (noun):a person who teaches, especially in a school.

            tu·tor (noun):a private teacher, typically one who teaches a single student or small group.

 

I found the definition of the two terms to be very interesting. I have heard many tutors say, "we are not teachers, we are just tutors," According to the definitions, we are both. 

Personally, I am going to college to become a teacher, so I found the previous statement to be controversial because as a tutor, we should be teaching.  These students are expecting us to teach them! In some ways, tutoring is easier; we don't have to set up lectures, create assignments or grade homework. On the other hand, our job is more difficult because we have to teach students how to understand the material in a different way than the teacher.

As a tutor, we are expected to have a higher understanding of the material being taught. We should be able to help a student understand the material and explain in several ways how to approach the subject. Most important of all, we need to be able to show the student how the process works in a way that the teacher could not.

 I would love to hear how everyone defines the two terms. Please leave a comment :)

Side Note:

The Doodle polls will be sent out on Tuesday morning to all tutors to get your availabilities so that Daniel can create a schedule for next term. If you receive a message from Doodle please respond by Thursday if you plan to tutor next term so that we can get a day that will work for most people that need it.

Fall 2014

            First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone for all the effort that has been put in to make the Success Center a great work/study environment. I am glad to have the opportunity to work on the blog as well as contributing time to the Woolley Center.
   We are in week 8 already, wondering where the time went! This term didn’t seem as hectic during mid-terms, but we should anticipate more students coming in as we approach finals. Winter registration is already open and it is important to get registered as soon as you can.

            Fall is finally upon us, and everyone is bundling up for college. The campus has an eerie feeling to it in the morning again as the fog slowly gives way to the little amount of sunshine we hope for.  This is one of my favorite times of the year. We all have something that the Fall season reminds us about; hot cocoa, bonfires, hunting season and many more things that we associate with the season. For me, Autumn is all about the beauty of the wonderful state that we live in. Oregon has so much to offer during this season with the vast amount of trails, waterfalls, rivers and mountain roads, we sometimes forget to enjoy the beauty of it. I would love to hear what everyone looks forward to in the Fall. Any plans for a road trip? I love going to the coast during this time of year, the cold air mixing with the salty smell of the ocean always makes me smile.

        

Americorps Opportunity

Daniel and I introduced the AmeriCorps member position in the last tutor meeting and I have the job description posted below. Please read it over as well as the short commentary at the bottom of the page. 

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Position Description and Benefits:

The Connect2Complete (C2C) AmeriCorps position will work with developmental education (DE) students and faculty on campus to build community-engaged learning into DE curriculum and serve as peer advocates for DE students. Members will work closely with DE students to provide institutional resources as well as with DE faculty to plan two service-learning projects. Connect2Complete is designed to increase the rate of DE students successfully completing and enrolling in transferrable, credit bearing coursework, increase GPAs and persistence, and build service projects which meet community needs.

Essential responsibilities include:

·       Working with developmental education faculty to plan and implement two service-learning projects, one of which must be on a National Day of Service

·       Connecting with developmental education students to provide resources and support

·       Strengthening and building relationships on campus and in the community

To serve as a C2C Member candidates must be:

• A current student in good standing at their institution
• At least 17 years of age
• A U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or lawful permanent resident
• Able to serve 300 hours of service within one year of enrolling (~ 10 hours / week)
• Able to pass a full criminal history background check

Connect2Complete Project AmeriCorps Member Benefits:

·       An education award of $1,175 upon completion of service

·       Training and professional development opportunities

·       Access to an extensive network of AmeriCorps Alums

·       Loan forbearance and interest accrual, if applicable  

All Members that successfully complete 300 hours of service within one year from their date of enrollment (TBD by each individual campus) will receive a $1,175 Eli Segal Education Award.

Connect2Complete AmeriCorps Members do not receive a living allowance through Oregon Campus Compact for their service.

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Each of you have interacted with many of our developmental education (DE) students while tutoring. Many of the DE faculty work with ESB 15, and I know that many of you have existing relationships with those faculty members. Some of the highest complements that I have heard from students are in respect to these instructors.

Tyler and I will be approaching Dr. Ali with a pitch for the service learning projects and I will get back with all once the decision has been made. I highly encourage you each to come talk to me about the position and what it would entail. From the feedback that I've heard from many of your own tutoring experiences, I know that some of you would absolutely love working in this position. We are looking to find members by the time we have our first training, which is Nov. 21st at 11:00am in Lockwood Hall Rm 2 (Next Friday). We are excited for the opportunity to work with more of UCC's students to promote their success during their time at Umpqua Community College.

Week 6 updates

Hopefully everyone is handling the pressures of midterms well (I'm not... sorry about all the sirens around noon yesterday). It's hard to believe the majority of the term is already downstream of us. It's tough, but will be so so worth it!

Some updates for this week:

Winter is approaching and the UCC bookstore is having a 50% sale on jackets. Good time to get a warm winter shell.

Please help us in welcoming several new tutors to the team. Isaac, Marcy, Sandra, and Kevin have been hired on as peer tutors. Also starting are many students who are volunterring from the Nursing program. Welcome, Courtney, Keeley, Tyler, Hensel, Eden, Beth, and Maria. We are happy for both our peer tutors and volunteering peer tutors, and all of them make a great addition to the team!

When checking out iPads and Laptops, make sure that an assistant acknowledges that you are doing so. Just like with tutoring, the front desk can get busy and it is important that all of our inventory gets accounted for.

The “Success Clan” has won six out of seven clan wars, and the first tutor has joined the clan! We look forward to accepting the other tutors as they join. Please help us spread the word to our students! The clan is for all UCC student employees and students who play Clash of Clans.

Tyler Ramos recently fulfilled the position of Coordinator of Success Center Initiatives. He will continue his work with CSM and is now accepting the responsibilities of the Supplemental Instruction program. Daniel and Tyler will work closely together for the success of the S.I. Program.

Blake Mecham and Tessa Smithey have been working with us for three weeks now, but each are newly hired assistants. Blake works with the CSM program as an assistant and Tessa works as an assistant for the Success Team.

Please help in welcoming Blake and Tessa to the team and congratulating Tyler for his new position!

And the following was sent all UCC students from Marjan Coester’s office, and bears repeating.

“Writing Instructors [are] available to help students with their essays, reports or any other writing assignments.  The writing instructors will be available in the Writing Lab located in the UCC Success Center (ESB 15).   Helen Laurence is available in the Success Center on Tuesdays and Thursday from 10:30 am to 11:30 am and Andrew Madaus is available in the Success Center on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm. In addition to the writing instructors, we also have peer tutors available to assist with the writing concepts and paper formatting.  Please visit the center for a copy of the peer tutor writing schedule.  When utilizing the Writing Lab or student tutors we ask that students bring a copy of any drafts of their paper, any related assignments or handouts, class syllabus, and course textbook if available.  This resource is available to students free of charge!”

Carpe Diem, my friends. I miss you all and hope all is going well.

—N.

Week 3 already!

The weather is changing, days are getting shorter, but there is still plenty of activity to be had here on campus.

A few upcoming events:

Saturday, October 18: UCC’s annual Harvest Celebration. Wear your costume, bring your kids, and get ready for some family fun! There will be trick-or-treating and other fun games available 11am – 2pm

There will be a job fair in the student center on October 22^nd from 11am – 2pm. Local employers will be on hand to answer questions and, just maybe, accept resumes.

Also, the office of Student Life has sent the following statement, which is so important that I will repost it here in its entirety:

“Got Respect?  Have you ever felt disrespected or marginalized because of who you are?  Or have you found others treat you in special ways because of your individual status?  We want to hear your story.  Participated in one of eight focus groups being held this term to aid in a research project about respect and inclusion at Umpqua Community College.  The focus groups are: Age, Ability, Ethnicity, Women’s Voices, Poverty, Race, Religion and Sexual Orientation.  If you are interested in participating or would like more information, please send an email to got-respect@umpqua.edu”

Finally, a representative from Portland State University will be on hand Wednesday, October 15^th from 11 – 1 in the cafeteria. They will be answering questions regarding degree programs, transferring, and other important topics.

Keep up the wonderful work!

—N.

A heartfelt Thank You

Ladies and gentlemen!

This week is International Tutor Appreciation Week. For more info, see here.

I'm going to keep this short. I want to thank all of you for your outstanding work, dedication, and commitment to UCC and it's students. I've said it before, and I'll say it once again: I'm proud to have worked with such a great team, and I must say that after comparing UCC's Success Center to other tutorig services I have used this fall, you all should be extremely proud of what you have accomplished. It is, by far, tthe best tutoring lab I have seen.

Keep up the exemplary work. 

—N.

School's back! Carpe Diem!

Welcome back tutors and success assistants!

It’s time to kick off another wonderful year of learning and knowledge. Before we discuss this week’s topic, I want to share a bit of what’s going on around campus this first week of Fall term.

First, I encourage everyone to stop by the campus center and visit with the newest ASUCC team. ASUCC will be on hand Monday the 29^th and Tuesday the 30^th to answer questions, provide information, and listen to complaints and concerns. Students who visit can be entered to win prizes or a gas card, so take a moment to stop and say hi.

This year is the big transition from Angel to Canvas for delivery of online class content. There is too much information regarding this change to put in this blog, but if you visit the main UCC webpage at umpqua.edu, and click the UCCOnline tab at the top it will provide much needed information on the transition and the classes currently using canvas. Additionally, the helpful folks in ESB 34 can answer many questions regarding the change.  

The hours of the success center this term will be 0900-1800 M-Th, and 0900-1500 on Friday.

Now then. Let’s discuss some tips for succeeding with your tutees. Fall term is always the busiest term of the year, and be prepared for frequent and numerous visitors to the Success Center. Knowing that we can provide the best services possible will go a long way in helping UCC students succeed.

I want each of you to imagine a rather difficult course that you feel you may need tutoring in. Maybe it’s an advanced math class, maybe it’s an extremely research-heavy science course . . . just imagine that you need some tutoring in a subject. What would you want a tutor to do for you? How would you want a tutor to interact with you, to help you through the material or explain certain concepts? If you can formulate that interaction, if you can imagine how you would want to be treated by a tutor, than that is a wonderful start to your interactions with your tutees.

Here are some general guidelines:

Learn from them. We all have so much we can teach, and so much we can learn. I’ve learned much from people over the years, and it has always been a wonderful experience. Don’t be afraid to listen and glean from others. By doing this we build a foundation of trust and understanding, and thus providing a better nucleus for the tutor-tutee relationship

Be sympathetic. So many people come to the Success Center confused, scared, and feeling unsure of their abilities. Some of the subjects that the tutees struggle with may seem easy to us, but we must remember that to them, they are anything but. Understanding their struggles is an important step in helping them overcome those struggles.

Give them confidence. Perhaps the most important thing we can do is instill in a tutee the power to tackle their problems head-on. 

Help them understand. This may seem obvious, but understanding the material is one of the foundations of academic success. A big part of that is understanding why something needs to be done. Obviously, this will mean different things for different people and different courses but it is a basic requirement for success.

Different situations may require different approaches. Only you can know what will work in any given situation. However, if you use the above guidelines as a starting point, a student’s success should be well within their grasp.

You are all wonderful tutors, and make an outstanding team. I’m quite proud to have been a part of the Success Center, and will miss all of you terribly. Keep up the wonderful work.

—N.