Introduction
The Brooks article is one that I chose to read because it seemed to parrot my personal philosophy on teaching well. I agree that the student should lead the session and that the tutor should follow that lead with only minor prodding in different directions if it is absolutely necessary. The place in the article where author Brooks and I differed is in the basic versus advanced approach to minimalist tutoring. I think that it is important for a tutor to go into a session looking at the whole picture and the whole student immediately, not only if they have time. The Brook’s article touches on what I feel to be one of the most important tools a teacher or tutor has at their fingertips; the ability to ask questions. I think that a student is the only person wh o really knows what they were thinking and how they want to present their ideas. The tutor needs to be consistently asking questions and using those questions to lead the session and not their views on what the paper should be providing. The paper and the grade belong to the student, so should the work and effort.