The Good: Some of the things that make a tutoring session really good are when the students are actively participating and appear to be really dedicated to the session. Another indicator of a good session is when after wrestling with a concept or theme, a light bulb goes on in their head, as they finally come grasp its understanding. However, the thing that makes a tutoring session the most successful is when the student comes in prepared, both with reading the material and knowing what exactly they need help with (however, I understand that this is not always possible).
The Bad/Ugly: One of the worst things that I had to experience was when a student would continue to check her cell phone throughout the session and even at one time answer it. Another “Bad/Ugly” is when it is apparent that the student wants you to do all of the work for them, and essentially write their paper or provide them with a summary of the material. However, the worst is when the student is completely unprepared and has not been reading the assigned material for the class. This makes the session almost impossible, as I cannot serve as their own personal textbook.
