Turning Point (Grading Papers)

grade book

For the first few years that I was a teacher and tutor, I gave every student the benefit of a doubt. I accepted their weak work and their excuses, feeling that nothing could be done about it, that I didn't have the right to complain, and most of all, I was afraid to be mean because I wanted my students to like me.

Enthusiasm (Grammar)

When I was a tutor at Nassau Community College, a student came in whose professor wanted her to work on grammar and sentence structure. Normally I prefer to focus on the paper itself, but this was what he wanted.

Romeo and Juliet word cloud
http://coolcardsblog.blogspot.com/

I showed the student the different ways that sentence parts and clauses can be fitted together. After each example it was like a light bulb going on. "Oh, cool!" she said every time, for coordinated sentences "Cool!", subordination, "Cool!", for all the various subordinating conjunctions, "Cool! Cool!"

Obviously grammar had seemed to her- as to most people- a tricky, pointless subject, and I was showing her the beauty of how things fit together like puzzle pieces. Next we looked at possessives, and the rules suddenly made sense, "Oh, cool!" We looked at modifiers and it clicked- "Cool!" Everything was Cool!

She floated out of the room, buoyed by her enthusiasm. She assured me she was going to read more grammar at home. I doubt the excitement would carry her for so long. It was probably a temporary elation.

Coaxing the Deer (College Entrance Essays)

I was introduced to a woman who was in distress because her son Lawrence was supposed to begin writing the essays for his college applications, but he had dug in his heels- he did not to write a personal essay about himself. He was tremendously bright, went to the city's premier high school, and was eligible for the very best colleges, but how to pass this hurdle? I agreed to try.

girl feeding deer, bronze c 1925, Herzbach & Wied

He wouldn't listen to what his mother asked him to do, but when we met I saw that he was at least listening to me. He was highly sensitive and his mind felt every nuance of another person. It was like trying to entice a nervous deer, extending an open hand and not breathing, hoping it won't bolt. His eyes still showed caution, but he was listening.

The Most Dangerous Profession

Oliver Twist picks his first pocket.
Even a thief has steady work.

Tutoring is the most dangerous profession. Even a thief has steady work, but a tutor is subject to the whims of other people, governments and budgeting. If she works for a family privately, they can cancel at any time. Maybe the student only needs temporary help, or a parent loses a job, or takes on a larger expense and can no longer afford the tutor. A tutor's schedule can change from week to week.

If she works for an agency, as do many special-needs tutors, her hours are up for review every year and the government can slice funding and overnight she is dismissed. If her special-needs client is a child, by 21 the child will age out of the system. If she works for a school, her hours are up for review every semester (three times a year) and they can cut hours, even to the point of elimination overnight. She must constantly be on the lookout for other work.

Even the best tutor may have a bad day, or make one mistake, and her tutoring quality may not be quite up to par just once. A family can judge her on that one day and assume she is a bad tutor and fire her. In fact the entire session can be perfect except for one small oversight, and the family will judge her on that.

In this, a tutor is like a heart surgeon, the President, or the guy at the controls of a nuclear power plant. She has to perform at top form and is constantly in danger of suddenly losing her livelihood overnight.

Tutors do not get served notice. What seems like a solid edifice of employment can crumble at any moment, even without warning.