Blog Post #4- Meeghan Cronin

After going to my first session of service-learning at the EMK, I am very interested to see what the dynamic will be in the writer's room. Our first session was not working with students, however, we were introduced to the workplace, what we would be doing weekly, and the school where the students will be coming from. I was surprised to learn that we would be working with 11th and 12th graders. Every time that I've had the opportunity to tutor or work with students, they have always been younger than me. I've worked with elementary students and underclassmen with homework and studying but whenever I am working with kids my own age, it is normally to help me in school as well. I am curious to see what they will be learning and how willing they are to utilize tutoring at the EMK.
Next week we will be traveling to the EMK school and helping the students with their compare and contrast essays based on pieces they have read from their black writers unit. During class, we talked about the importance and usefulness of prior knowledge. Although we related it to understanding memes, prior knowledge is important in almost everything we do. As a volunteer for these students, I need to understand what they are learning and how they are supposed to be writing their essays. Therefore, before heading into tutoring I am tasked with learning and reading about what they have read and the different pieces they have been reading in class. If I were to go into the volunteer session having not read the pieces or learning about what they are supposed to be writing, my help wouldn't be useful and the session would be ineffective. This is because I wouldn't understand how to help or what I should help them with or how they are supposed to be structuring their writing. Throughout my time volunteering, prior knowledge is going to be an important factor in being an influential tutor throughout my time.