C:/knowledge/you
Overview
Below are synopses of what each session offers depending on an individual’s needs. While each session will vary based on each student’s specific needs, these descriptions are meant to acquaint you with the structuring I offer and what to generally expect from a session.
At your own pace, we will go through your essay word-for-word, sentence-by-sentence, and page-by-page; this component essentially focuses on mechanics. Analogously, if we were making a steak dinner together (to celebrate you getting an “A” on your paper, obviously) this is me recommending the best cut to purchase and which shop to visit. By providing detailed feedback on what’s working for your essay and what is not (e.g. discussing cogency, coherency, and succinctness), I will not only be assisting your essay’s quality, but hopefully offer insight that improves your writing approach overall.
For optimal results, more than one session is recommended.
Analysis involves more than just fixing general structuring/writing mechanics (i.e. co-editing as previously mentioned) since analysis focuses on “voice” which is, recalling the steak analogy, the flavour profile that distinguishes your steak from The Keg’s or Gordon Ramsay’s steak. Analysis involves parsing through your course material together and helping you build a paper that fits your assignment requirements in your voice. I will help you identify primary sources, map out a writing structure for overall flow, and recommend word choice/phrasing for your thesis .
For optimal results, more than one meeting is recommended.
To conclude my steak analogy, the studying tools component is akin to providing you with a detailed recipe card with recommendations on how to recreate your masterpiece by yourself – specifically by assisting with research techniques, building quizzes for vocabulary/jargon etc. and providing note-taking suggestions. Additionally, I will even create exam preparation packets for you upon request.
(Note: I recognize everyone has their own methods; these are only recommendations I am providing, not absolutist statements.)
Selling yourself is hard. Questions such as “how do I sound confident, not arrogant?”, “How do I sound like I’m not grandstanding?”, or “How do I succinctly depict my knowledge in such a short space?” are difficult ones to answer when your mind’s clouded with anxiety – hence why having someone review your personal statement can elevate your application’s impression. Reviewal will involve co-editing on structure, balancing the expertise and personal motivations sections (it’s easy to accidentally launch yourself into a mini autobiography) and phrasing your education credentials in a succinct, professional way.
Rates
Being asked for an interview is exciting, but also (you guessed it) nerve-wracking. Either in-person or telephone, I will hold a mock interview with you to help you feel comfortable talking about your application. Each session will vary based on what your interview structure will look like. The institution will likely send you an email detailing how the interview will be conducted, and I will copy your structure as closely as possible. After the session, we will debrief and I will provide feedback.
(Note: each interview will be customized to the student; this is the general framework to expect. Upon contacting me, we can discuss what the structuring will look like.)
Rates
Phrasing how each professional role you’ve occupied and its contingent duties to sound engaging instead of soporific, is a challenging endeavour. CVs are meant to be ultra succinct, hence why I am offering assistance on the descriptions you will allocate for each skill you possess and how it relates to your optimal candidacy – along with how you contributed to publications contributed to your field, and how the roles you’ve occupied have guided your career pathway.
Rates
For K-6 Students:
Spelling is difficult! But it’s an integral part of writing and reading. For younger students, I will use some fun, tactile games (colour-coded vowels, mixing and matching snippets of words etc.) to aid your child’s comprehension.
I encourage each student to retain a notebook so we can record our progress. Sometimes it’s nice to have a visual reflection of what we’ve accomplished.
Rates
Reading can be complicated. Depending on your needs, we will go over your assignments and identify what needs to be improved on. I recognize everyone has different learning styles, so I will do my best to accommodate each student accordingly.
Upon request, too, I can supply some custom material to study afterwards, such as very short stories to read that we can go over in our next session.
I encourage each student to retain a notebook so we can record our progress. Sometimes it’s nice to have a visual reflection of what we’ve accomplished.
Rates
The best way to improve a student’s writing is to practice in small bits with support. Writing assistance will involve breaking the writing process into smaller, low-pressure steps via brainstorming, creating drafts, and co-editing the short responses we create together either for assigned material from school, or a short story we chose together to discuss at our next session.
The complexity will vary based on age.
I encourage each student to retain a notebook so we can record our progress. Sometimes it’s nice to have a visual reflection of what we’ve accomplished.
Rates
Writer’s Block Tutoring has helped me a lot when editing my essays. They provide insightful feedback in a timely manner, give thoughtful suggestions during the brainstorming process and have made me a stronger writer.
— S. Szelei-Miko, BA, York University
Thank you, Sophie, for helping me with my competition application . I appreciate the time and effort she takes and I love the fact how detailed she is. Because of her, I got to learn a lot and feel confident in my work.
— G. Bansal, Bachelor’s of Business Management Student, U of Vic
Thank you so much to Writer’s Block Tutoring for helping me edit my PhD application’s Personal Statement! Having assistance depicting my credentials and personal motivations in a professional manner really helped. I wound up getting an interview with the institution I applied for, and I think the Personal Statement assistance helped with that a little!
— A. Delmar. DVM, Wroclaw U; BsC, UBCO