The Value of Writing Associate Report Forms
by Cameron Wiggins
One of the many resources available in the Writing
Center (Mudd 201) is the file of past writing associate report forms.
These forms were filled out by past writing associates, dating back to
Fall 2000, and they provide specific information about individual
tutoring sessions. The forms are filed by department (i.e.
English, Politics, Economics) in the yellow box on the bookcase.
 Writing Associates: Not sure how to someone on an
Honors project? Look through the file of writing associate report forms
on this particular type of tutoring to get a general sense
of how past writing associates have done it successfully. You can also
look through reports on tutoring sessions in all of the disciplines
to glean information and techniques from past writing associates that
will help you to be a more effective writing associate.
Personally speaking, these report forms have
been a huge help to me as a writing associate. I read through a lot of
them during my first few shifts at the Writing Center just
to get a general idea of what a tutoring session is like,
and I also learned a lot of specific things that were helpful
to me.
Reading one writing associate’s comment, “I
guess my job was easy because all she really needed was reassurance
that her ideas were valid,” showed me that I should
be positive and give praise where praise is due, especially
to students who are nervous or lack confidence in their writing.
Another writing associate wrote about his technique in dealing
with papers that are not very well organized: “Her paper
wasn’t as focused as it could be. I recommended that
she make an outline as a way of organizing her paper at both
the macro and micro levels.” This is a great idea, and
it is a technique that I have often used in my tutoring since
I read about it in this writing associate’s report form.
Unfamiliar with tutoring students on applications
and cover letters, I looked through old report forms and found
a lot of useful tips; for instance, one writing associate wrote, “I
showed her how to place the important parts in the main sections
of a sentence…worked on adding a personal quality to
an impressive list of achievements.”
These writing associate report forms are a great resource
for you as writing associates because they can provide you with both general
information about tutoring and specific techniques and methods
of tutoring.
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