This chapter focused on interdisciplinary writing tutoring. One of the things that stuck out to me during chapter 12 was the idea of being a “colearner” with a student. On one hand, I understand that being pushed into a role of a colearner can take up time dedicated to helping the student with their writing, however, I can also see this as an advantage. If a tutor asks relevant questions, it may help the student to understand their subject matter a little better. For the most part, I agreed that tutors don’t necessarily need to have a full understanding of a subject in order to help a student with their papers. You can help a writer with the flow of the paper, grammar, organization, or any other lower concerns. I also think that it’s our job as writing tutors to be able to direct a student to other sources of help. I feel that if a paper’s problem is too intertwined with the subject matter, then a writing session may not be helpful for the student, and I’d want to be able to let a student know that they may need to speak to their professor/specific tutor about their paper. Of course, as writing tutors, we need to try our best to help students, regardless of the paper’s subject matter/discipline. This chapter did make me think of the limits of a writing fellow and the situations in which we might have to lead to student to another source of help. Regarding the online section, I feel like our generation has had more experience editing/revising papers using technology. I actually really enjoy leaving comments on a digital copy of papers, not only because it is convenient, but because I feel this also helps students not feel as overwhelmed when it comes to revising their work. Once they finish with one aspect of their paper, they can “delete” the comment I left, and move to another one. However, I found that some of the advice the book gave was helpful. It’s easy to leave a lot of comments on a digital copy, so I liked how the book pointed out that leaving three good, detailed suggestions would be enough. Overall, I enjoyed this chapter and thought that there was a lot I took from it.
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