Exercise 3B - Videos

All 3 of these videos depicted very different tutoring sessions. The first one was confusing; I wasn't sure what was going on exactly, whether the older man was tutoring everyone or if they were in groups, etc. But once I established what was going on, there wasn't much to see as far as body language. I could tell that some of the students seemed disinterested, not wanting to really do any work. The setup didn't help, since tutors were across the table from the students and they were close together, not giving much privacy and possibly making students uneasy as a result. It was difficult to tell whether anyone in the room was really engaged with what was going on.

In the second video, it was pretty obvious that the student didn't have respect for the tutor or his time, and he likely didn't even want to be there in the first place. He was disrespectful by walking in with a mouth full of food, answering his phone, and trying to ditance himself physically from the work. He didn't seem to be prepared either. The age difference between the student and tutor probably didn't help matters, as the tutor seemed to have a difficult time with the student, although he appeared to handle it well. I could tell the tutor was frustrated, but he kept calm, not moving away from the student or making him feel unwelcome. He was still polite and tried to engage the student. Eventually he seemed to get through a little bit, as the student began to look just a little bit interested. The tutor refused to do the work for the student, and instead tried to engage him in what he was there for, working on an assignment.

The third video seemed to be the ideal writing center scenario. The tutor at the beginning was very welcoming to the student, and I liked that they had cubicles to provide some privacy and keep the students from feelig self-conscious. Tutors were sitting next to students instead of across from them, and seemed to be actively engaged with the student without taking over completely. The positive body language of the tutors seemed to be reflected in the students, as everyone looked relaxed and comfortable. It was also noteworthy that the tutor walked the student to the door at the end of the session, smiling and appearing to ask the student to come back to the center. I would guess that this video is probably used as an ideal model for how tutoring sessions should look.