Upper School students tutoring Middle School students is not a new concept at Poly. However, there is a difference this year: the Upper Schoolers are tutoring the Middle Schoolers during the MS extra-help block.
The specific block— i.e. A, B, C, D, etc. — in which the MS extra-help block falls depends on the middle schooler’s schedule. Despite this, the block always runs from 12:15 to 12:40p.m. Upper School Writing Tutors, based on their availability, are then directly inserted into the Middle School designated 25-minute study/work period to offer personalized feedback in English and language arts.
In doing so, the hope is for “students and tutors [to] have an immediate connection. [The student] can always talk to that tutor without having to schedule something,” said John Rearick, English Faculty and Writing Studio Director. He continued that this type of organizing also “breaks down some of the scheduling issues.” This year, however, this direct connection allows for Middle School students to bypass that obstacle and receive personalized feedback during their sessions.
The Writing Studio is also looking for students who will make the most of their time with Middle Schoolers and leave a lasting, positive impression on them long after they are done. Aside from the extra pair of eyes the tutors offer to the Middle Schoolers, the “hope is that they model for our middle school students how to be a successful student who conducts themselves well,” said Jean Bernieri, English Faculty and Faculty Adviser of the Writing Studio.
Combining the writing tutor’s excellent character with their intelligence allows for the middle schoolers to form bonds with their peers that would otherwise be impossible given the logistical — MS and US don’t share free periods — and physical limitations — MS and US students aren’t always in immediate proximity — found at Poly.
“To Middle Schoolers, Upper School kids can be intimidating. I think that being able to interact with middle schoolers is good,” said Writing Tutor Ava Barbiere ’26.
“Students care about writing when they know they’re being read. When they feel the power that written expression holds for themselves and one another, then they have a true desire to practice and improve their craft,” said Lainie Levin of Two Writing Teachers—an online website whose self-description is “a meeting place for a world of reflective writers”––in an article about trusted reading circles.
Rather than merely critiquing Middle Schoolers’ work, tutors undergo training to ask open-ended questions to help Middle Schoolers reach their own conclusions. Before meeting with students, tutors watch videos of effective and ineffective tutoring sessions and must identify what went right or wrong in each. They also hold discussions in the library about strategies for improvement; they analyze texts, role-play as tutees and tutors and offer each other feedback. Then, after each session with a student, tutors will document how they helped, Rearick explained.
One of the key tools in the writing tutor’s toolbox is the ability to hold a natural conversation, Rearick explained. While seeing a paper covered in red ink by a teacher may be daunting for some students, especially younger ones, a tutor’s casual conversation with a student helps them receive feedback more effectively. “The conversation and the dialogue help them realize the potential that they have, which is really what we want all Poly students to graduate with. A love of writing,” said Bernieri.
While it is the case that “teachers want to give students timely, focused, and actionable feedback, it is easy to neglect,” according to Dr. Catlin Tucker, who, according to her eponymous website, is an education expert, bestselling author and international speaker with 24 years of experience in education. Providing personalized feedback is time-consuming, but having writing tutors meet with students to deliver it helps Middle Schoolers become much more confident in their writing.
The work of the Writing Tutors goes far beyond academic work. By meeting with students, taking time out of their day to foster professional relationships and explaining their feedback, Writing Tutors help Middle School students identify where they may have gone wrong and grow. Prospective writing tutors can check their inboxes toward the end of the year for an email from Rearick detailing how to get involved in the program. The central focus of the tutoring program is for the Middle Schoolers “to be less resistant or feel less isolated having somebody help them that’s a peer,” said Bernieri.
