| Quote
1: "Imagine two tutors reflecting on their first
semester of tutoring. One tutor is frustrated, tired,
and depressed. He spent hours during the term helping
the same students with the same recurring problems.
These students seem to rely continually on him. The
other tutor was content, energetic, and pleased. She
received several 'thank you' cards, watched a number
of her students improve their course performance,
and saw significant changes in her students' attitudes
towards school" (MacDonald, preface).
Response
1: This passage really spoke to me because already
I've had days just like the "depressed"
tutor. Some students just keep coming back without
seeming to make any progress. I had one "repeat
customer" just today, and after he left, I was
really questioning my ability as a tutor. If there
are specific strategies for getting the results of
Tutor #2, I'm ready to learn about them.
Quote
2: "It doesn't matter whether you work in a tutoring
center, an individual classroom, a peer advisement
center, an after school program, or a summer workshop,
this book will guide you to be better than you already
are" (MacDonald, preface).
Response
2: I'm relieved to hear this. One of my concerns about
this training program was that it wouldn't be relevant
to my particular tutoring situation. All of the programs
are so different. I'm glad that the training is flexible
enough to take these differences into account. It
will be interesting to see how we all end up applying
it.
Quote
3: "The Master Tutor works because it
leads to tutees who are better learners, not tutees
who get more answers from their tutors" (MacDonald,
preface).
Response
3: An interesting statement. Now that I read it, it
makes a lot of sense. I've always thought that I should
be the one with the answers. It looks like maybe I
have something to learn. . . .
Quote
4: "In the note column added to the side of each
page, be prepared with pen or marker to write thoughts
and reactions next to provocative passages or exercises
you read" (MacDonald, preface).
Response
4: What a great idea! This will come in really handy
as I prepare for the weekly double-entry journals.
I'll be able to simply look over the notes I made,
select the most important, and type them up. Cool!
I don't know about the rest of you, but I was worried
about how much time the journals would take. Now it
looks like they'll be a snap.
Quote
5: "A 5% change in you can often cause a 50%
change in the student you tutor" (MacDonald,
preface).
Response
5: Again, this is very inspiring. I often feel that
I'm doing too much just to try to get some sort of
result (like I'm changing 50% and the student is changing
not at all). It sounds like MacDonald really does
have some useful information to convey. I hope the
book lives up to its promise. . . .
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