Providing After School Enrichment To Students
Tips For Educators On One-On-One Academic Tutoring
Oct 25, 2008
Teachers assume they can handle one-on-one tutoring, especially if they are used to teaching a crowd. But the methods for tutoring an individual student are vastly different than methods used in a classroom. Tutoring is hands-on, personalized instruction, and there are several aspects to consider to know if tutoring is for you.
Consider Your Time And Resources
With all of your other teaching responsibilities, do you have the time to give individual attention to a student? Usually school-provided tutoring will provide additional resources for planning purposes, but outside tutoring arranged with parents will need more planning time on your part. Consider if the extra money is worth your time and energy.
Consider Place
If you are tutoring after school in your classroom, keep the door open! Never allow yourself to be alone with a student with the door closed. If you are still uncomfortable spending time alone with a student, meet together in the school library where most likely others will be present. If you are meeting at the student’s home, demand that a parent be home for each session. If this is not possible, meet together at a public library. You can also work for Sylvan or Club Z Tutoring, but your commitment and hours will be more intense.
Determine Student’s Strengths and Weaknesses
You think like a teacher, but now’s the time to think more like a physician. It’s your job as a tutor to “diagnose” and provide a “treatment” program. The best way to diagnose a student’s problem areas is through a pretest. Be sure that the pretest is designed as a diagnostic tool targeting specific areas. Once the pretest is scored, immediate analyze should indicate which areas are weak points in the student’s learning.
Discuss Your Plan of Action
What will you work on? Why? Explain to the student and to parents what the pretest reveals, and provide insight on what solutions you can offer. Base all sessions around these weak areas.
Act Like a Team
Be honest with the student. He or she knows there are weaknesses in his/her learning. Students want to know you are there for them, not just another teacher giving them more work to do. Make each assignment meaningful by explaining what skill you are trying to build. If working in your classroom, provide a small after school drink and snack to help the student maintain focus and look forward to tutoring.
Use “we” in conversations. For example, say, “We are going to work on building your vocabulary. You got many of the questions wrong dealing with vocabulary. We are first going to work on context clues to help you guess what words mean.”
Vary Teaching Methods for Tutoring Sessions
Tutoring doesn’t all have to be on paper. Much learning will be done discussing ideas with students and asking them about their struggles in learning.
You can also set up online tutoring sessions to work on grammar, reading, math skills, etc. Often your school has online resources that you may be unaware of. Ask around to see if your school has any licenses with the Discovery Education, PLATO software, or has any textbook supplemental programs.
Remember That Tutoring is a Process
Keep in mind that tutoring is a process, not a quick fix. Make students and parents understand that tutoring comes in small successes. Remind them that learning is a process over time, and undoing and teaching missed skills also takes time. Monitor small successes, and complete progress reports on student’s achievement.
If tutoring sessions have a deadline of specific weeks, send a final report for what was worked on and what the student should continue to work on for future improvement. Send the clear message that the student is not “cured,” the student must continue on the regime you set.
Teachers often find that tutoring can be more rewarding than working with large groups of students because they feel they are truly making a tangible difference.
 |
