Establishing a Rapport with Students

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=NTpBs4DL7KI

This video, Tutor Training Video Part 1, explores the different recommendations for establishing a rapport with a student who comes for a consultation. Although the video is not very exciting, it does offer some good advice for new consultants. The first speaker, Debra Hamilton, speaks about student anxiety. She makes a good point that many students feel extremely anxious, especially if they are just returning to school. Since many of our students at UM-Tupelo are returning students we need to recognize how stressful writing classes can be for them. Another tutor proposes that consultants should see themselves as allies; their role is ask productive questions which produce results.

One problem I see with this video is that Debra says she often tells students about professors' idiosyncrasies if she is familiar with the professor. I think this practice can be very dangerous, especially if those comments get back to the professors. Instead, I do think it is useful to discuss a professor's expectations if we have had a class with that person, but we should not be negative or critical of the professor.