April 20, 2021<\/span>\u00a0marks the end of me working at the writing centre. This past year of working at the writing centre was not only my first year working here<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0but also a year of helping and guiding students online.\u00a0<\/span>Although there were definitely challenges and<\/span>\u00a0hurdles to be jumped over, I also learned a lot and took a lot of what it means to be a good helper and tutor from both the students and my colleagues. One of the most important lessons I learned this past year\u00a0<\/span>was how to best present a<\/span>nd guide the students through their\u00a0<\/span>tasks,<\/span>\u00a0so they don’t feel overwhelmed but instead leave with determination and confidence<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One of the most recurring <\/span>themes<\/span>\u00a0with the students that come to meet me was how overwhelming their tasks\u00a0<\/span>are and how challenging online learning is.\u00a0<\/span>With COVID restricting and drastically changing our lives, many of the students I have met with are stuck in<\/span>\u00a0a different time zone trying to juggle both\u00a0<\/span>schoolwork<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>how to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>make<\/span>\u00a0peace with the whole pandemic.\u00a0<\/span>Another additional struggle\u00a0<\/span>is the loneliness they feel regarding their\u00a0<\/span>schoolwork and courses<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>No matter how many emails the professors email out to express their concerns and their\u00a0<\/span>support, it is just not the same as face-to-face, in-person connections that students can get when they are on campus. With these<\/span>\u00a0unchangeable factors in mind,\u00a0<\/span>how can I<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0a writing tutor<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0help and support the students that come to meet me was\u00a0<\/span>the main focus and target this semester.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Looking at the root <\/span>of the students\u2019 struggles<\/span>, stude<\/span>nts all feel overwhelmed and\u00a0<\/span>stressed because online learning is not what they are used to, and they are not sure what they are supposed to do in their courses<\/span>. Therefore, I have learned that it is crucial to\u00a0<\/span>walk through the assignment with them and put the assignment into simple steps.\u00a0<\/span>I found that after students realize that the assignment is not as big as they imagined it to be, their subconscious “mind block” gets lifted<\/span>. As a result,\u00a0<\/span>they feel more relaxed\u00a0<\/span>and become more openminded\u00a0<\/span>regarding their current situation.\u00a0<\/span>Next, I found that\u00a0<\/span>setting up and creating a plan of what to do and how to do it was\u00a0<\/span>very helpful.\u00a0<\/span>Having a clear direction of where to go next can be very comforting when feelings of stress and anxiety take over.\u00a0<\/span>Additionally, providing examples and step-by-step guide in how to reach specific goals discussed in the sessio<\/span>n<\/span>\u00a0can be very\u00a0<\/span>supportive in helping students reach the steps<\/span>. Online learning requires a lot of motivation and self-guidance from the student.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Not only that, for some students, online teaching does not match with their learning style. As a result, a lot of the things taught go unprocessed.\u00a0<\/span>Therefore, one should never assume that a student has already understood a concept or a way of writing\u00a0<\/span>without any teaching\u00a0<\/span>or guidance\u00a0<\/span>done.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n COVID has changed many things not just for <\/span>tutors but also for the students.\u00a0<\/span>During this year of online tutoring at the writing centre, I have realized the importance of\u00a0<\/span>face-to-face connection in an education setting and how vital it is to validate students’ feelings.\u00a0<\/span>Overall, I\u00a0<\/span>have learned that t<\/span>hrough validation of feelings and guidance of how to resolve and overcome those feelings, students can\u00a0<\/span>regain the confidence and determination they once had<\/span>\u00a0and finish the school year on a strong note<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Alice’s Reflection Alice Wu April 22, 2021 April 20, 2021\u00a0marks the end of me working at the writing centre. This past year of working at the writing centre was not …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":5636,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[180,109],"class_list":["post-5471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reflection","tag-reflection-alice_wu","tag-spring-2021"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pad6JM-1qf","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/learningcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/learningcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/learningcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/learningcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/learningcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5471"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/learningcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7112,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/learningcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5471\/revisions\/7112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/learningcommons\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/learningcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/learningcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/learningcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}