Asynchronous tutoring

I share basically the same concerns that others have expressed when it comes to the pros/cons of asynchronous/online tutoring. On the one hand, one of the most rewarding aspects of the enrollment program for me has been the experience of building that rapport with them, finding out what lights their fire, and really learning who they are by talking through the topics they're drawn to writing about. On the other hand, when you're not working with the same student every time, there are lower stakes to those occasional but inevitable times when you crash and burn.

Although, in what situation am I most likely to crash and burn? I feel like I'm much better at expressing myself through writing than in speaking, and so I may be able to give stronger, and possibly even more honest feedback when I have the luxury of parsing / editing my thoughts before I express them, through the distance of a screen. For me, when the student is looking right at me, waiting for me to say something about their draft, I find that my comments tend to be more reactive than reflective, if that makes sense. It often takes me a while for me to figure out what I want to say and how I want to say it, and so the aspects of the enrollment program that involve thinking on my feet have probably been the most challenging. But I also know that this is a skillset I struggle, and I really do want to improve at it! So many aspects of grad school — teaching, tutoring, seminars — inherently reward a certain kind of communication style that doesn't come that naturally or easily to me.

Although, interestingly enough, I've found that students often have the opposite challenge as me — they can talk through their ideas more easily than they can express them in writing. So even though it may be more comfortable for me on a feedback-giving level, there's no replacing that back-and-forth of an in-person conversation.