Zola TS #1

     Today I had my first tutoring session with Natalia. I used this session diagnostically.

    First I adapted some questions from the tutoring guidelines found in files. These questions ended up being very helpful. For example, I knew beforehand that my tutee was from Moldova. Knowing that Romanian is the national language of Moldova, I was not sure if I should bother asking her native language. However, by using parts of the Needs Assessment Questionnaire, I learned that Natalia's native language is actually Russian, though she did speak Romanian at school.

    I also used the needs assessment to ascertain which subject Natalia felt she needed assistance with. She mentioned that listening can be a challenge, particularly to quickly-spoken passages.

    Finally, I did a short timed writing exercise with her just to get a sample of her writing for future use. I found that her strong spots are use of diverse vocabulary, while errors are more grammatical, like a few comma splices.

    I still feel pretty nervous, because communication with my tutee is not completely smooth. She is very confident speaking, but sometimes her responses indicate that she did not understand my questions. However, I think the practice of having to phrase things unambiguously will be helpful for me.