by Josephine Wilson

Overall, working with Asheville High surprised me. I thought I would be met with a student who didn’t really want to write the essays, or who wouldn’t really listen to what I had to say. Instead I found that the student was easy and pleasant to work with. He actually listened to and tried the tricks I had to share. The tutoring made me more aware of writing in that I had to figure out how to teach what I already knew how to do and did. Explaining the tips that I used for my own college essays and teaching them made me more aware of how they work and how they might help the student.

I learned that I really enjoy teaching. I wasn’t too sure before this class, but I’m more sure of it now. I realized that I felt really invested in helping make this student’s essay shine. I also felt bad whenever I thought the student felt frustrated and wanted to figure out how to prevent that in the future and make him feel more confident. I think I got a better understanding of how difficult teaching can be. I can see how teaching multiple students this type of thing in a classroom setting can be difficult as you can’t take nearly as much time to help each individual student.

I really enjoyed this class and the insight tutoring gave me towards teaching. I’m sure the experience will help me in the future.