I began working for Smarthinking in August 2013. I was interested in developing skills communicating and giving asynchronous feedback through digital platforms, and this tutoring program provided a great opportunity to do just that. Working with a lead tutor, I honed my communication skills and my speed as a tutor. The lead tutor worked closely with me to help refine my ability to communicate clearly, effectively, and quickly. Through their simulations, I was trained in a variety of tutoring exercises, including ESL, literature, composition, and discipline-specific writing.

 

I continue to work to refine my skills as a tutor, and Smarthinking’s ongoing development exercises and reviews from lead tutors has helped contribute to my development. Effectively communicating and giving feedback in a limited amount of time and through an asynchronous platform is a challenging skill to develop, but it has proved essential in my role as composition teacher. Tutoring is an important part of first-year writing instruction, and I feel that my work with Smarthinking has proved quite useful in my teaching. To see a sample markup, click the image to the right (note that the markup requires login access).