The Agenda

Once you have established rapport with the student and you are in a comfortable position to tutor, you are ready to set the agenda. You are responsible to watch the time and to address the important issues. Some tutors actually use alarm clocks that are set to go off at a determined time, but you may not feel a need for such measures. It is helpful to view the tutoring session as divided into three phases: beginning, middle, and end:

The beginning activity emphasizes building student/tutor rapport. The middle is the period when you and the student discuss problems and concerns about the paper. The ending is the most important part of the tutoring session because this is when you provide certain concrete areas for the student to work on before the next session or before turning in the paper. The student needs to leave with a clear understanding of what has been accomplished and of what to do next.

Key Idea
The student should leave the session feeling empowered. He should feel confident that he can tackle the work before him.