Monday, March 20, 2016
Isik and I met at the Starbucks on Tennessee Street. We spent the first couple of minutes getting to know each other. I immediately noticed how easy she is to talk to. Isik has a naturally calming presence, even though she lives a very busy life. We shared stories, and talked about our studies in school. I also learned about her love of folk dancing!
To begin the tutoring session, I had Isik read a short paragraph that contained several errors. Isik was eager to take on the challenge, and did a great job of distinguishing the mistakes. If she did not understand why a grammar error needed to be made, she never hesitated to ask. We spent time going over the placement of prepositional phrases, and why they should generally follow what they are describing. Once we finished reviewing, I had Isik write a one-page essay on her favorite place. Since Isik is interested in perfecting her formal writing skills, it was a good starting point for our tutoring sessions together. I read her finished essay aloud, so Isik could hear if she made any "beautiful mistakes." Completing the essay assignment also allowed me to evaluate her abilities as a writer.
Since Isik envisions creating a website one day that will incorporate both Turkish and English text, I will focus the majority of our tutoring sessions on the different aspects of formal writing. I hope to use the skills I've acquired as a Creative Writing major to help expand and improve Isik's writing abilities. Isik was such a pleasure to work with, and I look forward to our weekly meetings. I also learned how important it is to be able to explain why grammar rules are a certain way. I often found myself at a loss of words when describing something so simplistic.
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