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Tutorial assistance is provided on a drop-in basis,
first come, first served. Appointments are not
available. Just come to Room 1501 and write your name on
the daily "sign-up" sheet posted in The Studio. As soon
as a Studio assistant is free, s/he will call your name.
Sometimes you don't have to wait at all for assistance
or only for a few minutes. At other times The Studio
might be busy and you would have to wait a little while.
(You can work on one of our jigsaw puzzles while you
wait!)
When several students are waiting for assistance,
tutoring is limited to 30 minutes for one session.
However, you may sign up again for assistance the same
day; you're not limited to one session.
- WRITING: Essay and paragraph
assignments, sentence and grammar
skills, research papers, summaries,
reports, speech preparation, letters of
application for college and employment,
resumes
- READING: literal and critical
reading comprehension, vocabulary
development, reading for pleasure
- STUDY SKILLS: note-taking,
textbook-reading, test-taking,
concentration and memory, time
management
- PREPARING FOR TESTS: test-taking
strategies and opportunities to practice
skills required in standardized tests
such as the COMPASS, TOEFL, etc.
Expect TWLS Studio assistants (LA's) to ask you
questions as you work with them. They do that to get
information they need and to guide you toward deeper
thinking. Expect the LA's to listen closely to you. This
is a cooperative, collaborative process, with YOU in the
driver's seat. They can help you get started on an
assignment, figure out the next step, or identify needed
skills. Think of writing tutorials as conversations with
a skilled, interested listener.
A typical tutorial session lasts about 30 minutes. On
the other hand, some students' questions take only a few
minutes to answer. When The Studio isn't busy, your
session could last up to 50 minutes, if that would be
useful. If your session involves an essay and you don't
have particular questions, you should expect the LA to
focus first on "global" concerns such as content and
organization before discussing "local" concerns such as
grammar and punctuation. However, it's common practice
in college writing centers for assistants to discuss
only one or two major issues in your writing during one
tutoring session. You should not expect to cover all
aspects of your paper in only one tutoring session.
For-Credit Students: 60-85 students typically
register for credit each quarter in the personalized lab
courses, ENGL 089 and ENGL 099. For each credit earned,
students are required to spend 20 hours in the lab
working on their lab assignments. Each quarter TWLS is
also the home for one to four students taking Education
199 or Engl 296, courses designed to train Studio
assistants and give them supervised experience tutoring
in TWLS.
Walk-in (non-credit) students: 400 - 450 students
typically use TWLS each quarter on a walk-in/non-credit
basis for writing and reading assistance, student
success workshops, handouts, reading assessment,
advising, and other resources. While The Studio serves
students in a variety of courses across disciplines, the
majority of requests for assistance are made by students
in English 101. The five other courses that typically
represent the most requests for assistance in TWLS are
English 102 and 100 and ESL 100, 099, and 098.
One full-time English faculty member, Grace Rhodes,
is director of TWLS and professor of ENGL 089, ENGL 099,
and EDULA 199. During each hour The Studio is open for
service, two or three learning assistants (LA) are also
working. Learning assistants have a range of education
and experience, the majority having a bachelor's or
master's degree, while others are currently students
working toward their degrees. Learning assistants are
hourly employees with a top salary of $9.43 per hour.
To find out more specific information about the
current staff, click on "Tutoring" in the left-column
menu and read what the staff members wrote about
themselves.
(written here verbatim)
"This is my first quarter at Shoreline and it has
helped a lot with my study skills. I have test anxiety,
and Grace did a great job in helping me with math. Thank
you!"
"They are able to get down to my level of
understanding" it was very helpful in me passing my
course. The whole staff was very friendly and
understanding to my special needs."
"Very intuitive at creating a course just for me--has
been incredibly helpful to me personally with areas I
needed improvement on that I didn't know I had" This
class was very important for me."
"Since I started coming here my essay has improved
and it gets better every time I write an essay."
"This course has sparked my interest in how people
learn. I hope to go to TWLS next quarter to further my
knowledge of the learning process."
"I am so glad that we have the opportunity to have a
writing and reading lab that helps people understand how
to write and to get help from other people."
"Studio assistants are like big sisters. They all
worked with you and told how you can improve instead of
saying negative criticism."
"Everyone here listens to my confusion and they find
a way to make it more clear in my mind. They are very
friendly." (English 080 student)
"I can ask questions about assignments in here when I
don't have chance to ask in class." (ESL 098 student)
"I gained different perspectives on my work which
aided me in improvement." (English 101 student)
"I have been a student in this college for a long
time, but did not use this writing center". One of my
non-native English students told me how they studied
their writing here. Since then, I came here to ask
tutors to look over my paper work. I truly
appreciate your support to guide me how to write. As a
non-native English speaker, writing in English is
hardest. Without your support, we will not be able to
deliver our writing skills". This center is very important
not only for completing my classes but also improving my
writing skills. Thank you!" (Intra-American Studies 103
student)
"Now that I am almost through with first quarter, I
can honestly tell you how much I have benefited from
your tips on how to be a more effective reader. This
quarter gave me a reading list like I have never seen
before. Your approach to reading was different than I
have used and saved me time in the long run. I have
gained only positive things from your presentation, and
I hope you continue to help the future nursing students
as much as I know you have helped me and my classmates."
"I honestly wish that I had known about all of the
different study tips earlier in my college career". I am
now able to take the huge amounts of assigned nursing
material, read it and focus in on the important key
elements." Please keep doing the small orientation for all
of the incoming nursing students. They really will
realize how wonderful it is later on."
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