Communication Center Journal 166 - Volume 3:1, 2017 - From Tutoring to Teaching

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore

Reflective essay on the shift from tutoring to teaching in writing/communication, arguing against a “scattershot approach” that jumps between ideas without a clear purpose. The author explains how lack of rhetorical planning weakens assignments and grading, causing wasted time and unclear standards for students. Through experiences with compare/contrast essay prompts, feedback, and use of rhetorical situation theory, the piece shows how precise purpose and evaluation criteria improve student success and the teacher-student strategy alignment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

From Tutoring to Teaching

Avoiding the “Scattershot Approach”

Creating Clear Purpose for Assignments

Using Rhetorical Situation Theory

Designing Feedback and Grading

Communication Center Journal 166 Volume 3:1, 2017 From Tutoring to Teaching: Advice I Should Have Taken and Connections I Should Have Made Landon K. Berry University of Central Flordia I have taught writing/communication for five years and consecutively for four. Preceding both periods of teaching were very informative and groundbreaking years as a tutor in two amazing communication centers. To say that these centers had a profound impact on my pedagogy is an understatement. I always strive to be a reflective teacher, but I will admit I sometimes don’t readily make connections that would be advantageous to my teaching. This piece, then, is a look backwards to oneof the key pieces of advice I received as a tutor, advice I would have done well to heed when I began teaching. My hope in drawing attention to my missed opportunities is to arm both tutors and teachers (especially tutors who are considering teaching) against such mistakes, and help both parties become conscious of the ways of thinking of the other. When tutors and teachers share common strategies for supporting students, the students they serve are destined for success. As a tutor, one of the most important pieces of advice I received was to avoid taking a “Scattershot approach.” Simply put, a scattershot approach is taking a wide aim at a tutoring session and jumping around from idea to idea without a clear plan. In other words, you bring up anything and everything, hoping to find what your student needs. As I’ve described it, a scattershot approach sounds at best not productive, and at worst irresponsible, so what tutor on earth would ever want to take such an approach? Well, a scattershot approach is easy to slip into because it is often justifiable in the moment. Picture the last story or article you read. There was probably a clever title, inciting events, gripping details, etc. Any number of elements can grab us at any moment, and any of them could be vital to the success of a text. However, there are two main concerns with taking such an approach: one, it misses an opportunity to model rhetorical planning for a student (Ambrose, Bridges, DiPietro, Lovett, & Norman, 2010), and two, its lack of planning can burn valuable time needed in a session. I would have done well to remember this advice when I transitioned from tutor to teacher. As in tutoring, avoiding a scattershot approach in teaching is vital. To say it differently, it is necessary for a teacher to have a clear purpose when assigning a task.“To see how well a student can write or reason,” I argue, is not a strong enough purpose. I recall the first assignment I gave to first-year students when I began teaching. I asked my students to write a “compare/contrast” essay using “Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer” by Robert Reich (2017) and a Cracked online magazine article. I remember how excited I was to read my first student essays as a teacher, and I remember very vividly the sinking feeling that engulfed me when I began grading. This isnot to say that what my students produced wasn’t “good,” but that I had no inkling of an idea of what “good” meant for my class and for my assignment. I began latching onto anything I could in an effort to give my students feedback. Spelling, punctuation, Communication Center Journal 167 Volume 3:1, 2017 titles, citations, anecdotes, the list went on and on. Because my assignment lacked a clear purpose, so did my grading. I can’trecall how long I spent grading those essays, but I remember emerging from a grading bender ready to give up on teaching altogether. After all, I was teaching two sections as a graduate assistant, so how could some teachers manage a 4/4 or even a 5/5 courseload, some with student numbers in the 150 range? The task seemed insurmountable, that is, until I remembered the advice I was given as a tutor: avoid the scattershot approach. To successfully and fairly grade student work, not only did I have to have a

FAQs

What does the author mean by a “scattershot approach”?

A scattershot approach aims at a tutoring session broadly and jumps among ideas without a clear plan. The author describes it as bringing up anything and everything to discover what a student needs in the moment.

Why does the author argue that clear purpose matters in teaching?

Clear purpose guides both assignment design and grading standards. Without it, the teacher lacks a definition of “good,” and students are left with an unclear moving target.

How does rhetorical situation theory support the author’s course design?

The author uses Grant-Davie’s definition of rhetorical situation and its four parts to help students frame academic and non-academic situations. Exigence, especially, is emphasized as the most important for understanding why students write.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore