By Mary Mone
Online Editor
Throughout the semester, Apache Tutoring at Tyler Junior College has been hard at work hosting workshops to help students with their writing techniques.
The workshops cover a variety of topics concerning English, and they are held on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. At 5:30 p.m. on Monday, there is a Zoom call, which one can register for on OrgSync. Around 5:30 p.m. every Tuesday, there is a Zoom call and a simultaneous face-to-face meeting in the Quest Classroom in Vaughn Library. At 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, there is a Zoom meeting and a face-to-face meeting in the library, as well.
Nicole Hicks, a writing support specialist at TJC who designs and presents all writing-specific workshops, spoke on her position and the different topics they host.
“I focus on all writing specific workshops, and Tiffany Thompson, our learning support specialist, gives workshops on a variety of learning support topics, including reading and studying strategies, stress management and test taking tips,” Hicks said.
The way these workshops help develop individual’s understanding of English concepts is important, but the overall effect of them on the community creates an atmosphere of excellence around English.
“Students hear from a super enthusiastic presenter about common writing problems and get to practice what they learn then and there, which can improve their writing in class and beyond,” Hicks said. “They get to ask questions about tricky concepts and receive an immediate response from a real person instead of Google, Siri or Alexa.”
Hicks spoke about how the sessions benefit students because they make a bridge between the classroom and writing tutoring. Because professors may struggle to cover everything in the classroom, the tutoring center looks at potential gaps, which could be topics for the workshops, and plan around those for the semester.
With the semester coming close to ending, Apache Tutoring workshops are a resource within the campus community that may help many students prepare for their finals.
Apache Tutoring has hosted many successful events, such as a grammar and punctuation workshop, MLA style and APA style workshops, resume making workshops, formatting and citation workshops, and more.
Students must register beforehand to attend workshops via Zoom, but any student is welcome to attend the face-to-face sessions with no prior registration.
