Tutoring @ TJ’s

I had some really awesome experiences tutoring this past semester. I really feel like I was able to help students with their studies and gave them the confidence to succeed on tests and quizzes and study habits. I had a frequent client that gave me good feedback on how I was helping him. He made appointments before all tests and before his exams. I think that I really did help him which makes me feel great! Most people think tutroing isn’t hard, but it is because it has to do a lot with personality clicking. In order for your advice as a tutor to impact the client, your personalities have to understood by each other or else the client will just sit there adn nod their head while the tutor struggles to explain the subject matter. During a few sessions, I felt like I was not getting across my point to the client. That makes the session frustrating because because the tutor knows when the client isn’t understanding what in the world your saying. i only had one bad experience during a tutor session. It started off badly because I hadn’t checked my schedule past 1oclock that day so i thought I was off for the night, but at 8:05 I received a phone call notifying me that I had an appointment. I was so embarrassed because i would never not show up for anything so when I got there 15 minutes late, my client was kind of ticked at me..oopppss…. So I finally got situated, and asked the client what we would be working on that night. he explained to me that he had a lab report due the next day and had a few questions about his paper. So he opened his lab top and began asking me editing type questions. he was a little rude and chauvinistic in his words but I blew it off thinking it was just an arrogant type of personality.. whatever haha. I gave him editing advice and then he wanted me to start looking things up for him online and actually do his project for him. i explained to him that it was not my job to do that for him and that it was a waste of our tutoring time for me to Google search the entire time. I didn’t think think this was unreasonable but apparently he did because he complained about me. i guess he was just anxious and on a time crunch with his lab report to get it done because it was due the next day and he still had a lot of work to do on it, therefore he wanted me to the things he was having a hard time doing. I guess i would consider this experience an ugly one. All in all I love tutoring and ca not wait for next semester.

Within both of samples that I observed (OWL and Economics) I was very impressed by the tutors ability to ask questions that really got the student actively thinking and participating in the session.  For example, when Barbara was attempting to get the student to brain storm some ideas, she initiated this process by making a list of possible themes/subjects to write about.  As Barbara stated, “I’l put a few things on the board and you can add to the list”.  I thought that this was an effective was to get the student to actively participate; for, because Barbara started the list, this alleviated some of the nervousness that many students have when coming to a tutoring session.  Furthermore, it appeared as though the tutors ability to ask stimulating questions was derived from their ability to truly listen to the student.

In addition I thought that the tutors did a great job providing the students with positive reinforcement, as they often stated “good job” or “you catch on quick”.  While these complements may seem trivial they increase the confidence of the student, further allowing them to become active participants within the session.

I have met lots of good tutees, who were really dedicated and prepared for the tutoring session. Most of my clients came for help on pronunciation, so how much effect they put into study became very obvious once they open their mouth. My good tutees would ask me questions about how to identify similar pronunciations and if they felt uncertain about a sentence, they would ask me to give them an example. I am very happy about their positive learning experience. Meanwhile, I think being able to keep up with this attitude will be beneficial for them.

Most of my tutees are good; however, some tutees are unprepared and are here just because it is a required tutor session. In the paragraph they were supposed to read, they didn’t try to find any pronunciations even though they didn’t know how to pronounce the word. They would ask me to read pretty much the whole paragraph and they would just follow me. Since I knew they wouldn’t remember anything after the tutor session, I slowed down the speed and looked for the pronunciation in the back of the book with them instead of telling them directly.