Learning how to tutor is important in achieving the educational goals of the student. In this article, we look at steps that can help you to position yourself as a premium tutor in the marketplace, and ways in which you can attract the best students suited to you.
Learning how to tutor effectively requires a holistic approach to first, training methods and next, student assessment. Anyone considering tutoring must, before anything else, give themselves a reality check. Attempting to rush through the process will have grave consequences for both student and tutor.
It is a fact that students learn differently. For instance, one may require a more visual approach while the other, a linear, step-by-step instructional curriculum. Whatever the need, behavioral traits must be quickly assessed and responded to with flexible lesson plans.
An area requiring immediate review is your tutorial approach versus the learning traits of current and potential pupils. Understanding neither student nor tutor is perfect, necessitates ongoing adjustments to core curriculum concepts to meet immediate instructional need.
Here are a few pre-planning tips while preparing effective tutorial plans:
· Consider best instructional setting
· Setting time tables for progress measurement
· Planning each area of instruction based on your mentoring traits
· Assessing personal behaviors in response to ever shifting instructional needs
· Setting boundaries between tutor, student and parent
Although many more could be listed, these are a great place to begin preparing needed checklists and business planning. A mistake many tutors make which ultimately affects the overall quality of learning environments is believing methods which have worked for former students will do so for currently enrollees.
As with many things in life, adaptability is key to facilitating sessions which not only develop students but also enhance your personal tutoring reputations. Remember – the Internet has changed the way we communicate but it hasn’t mitigated the best form of service advertising – word of mouth!
Pre-planning requires aggregation of relevant data as well as understanding how to properly interpret it. Before a single pupil arrives, using data to make informed and effective choices on educational direction should be implemented.
If you choose the path of hiring a premium tutor, here are four tips to measure whether you’ve picked the right candidate:
1. Student first instructional model demonstrated
Those who put a student’s best interest first are always, without exception, able to achieve both student and parent educational objectives. Further, their style of teaching should demonstrate fulfillment of both short and long term goals as well as a natural creativity!
2. Teaches learning and not content
There is an old cliché which says – “the worst bosses are their own best workers.” This simply means teaching a pupil how to do the work builds self-sufficiency which ‘doing the work’ for them never will.
3. Make pupils do the work
Wide is the gulf between guiding a student’s hand while they master cursive writing and taking the writing instrument from them, writing the letter and proclaiming – “this is how it (letter) should look!” This piece of advice is most crucial because although a teacher may believe they are helping expedite the learning process, they could be setting a student’s development back by years.
4. Ongoing customization of curriculum
As was written earlier, adaptability to both behavioral as well as learning traits of a pupil is critical to long term success for both parties. The greatest advantage second only to the ‘one on one’ attention received by pupils is teachers not being confined by the proven, ineffective techniques mandated by both public and private school systems.
As it concerns advancing the educational goals of clientele, both curriculum flexibility as well as one on one student teacher interaction has proven a strong business selling point! Tutor Traits compares student needs with the qualifications of tutors in order to facilitate the best fit. Chemistry between student and tutor is key to success and what we pride ourselves on matching.
Whatever the tutoring need, we work closely with clients to facilitate the achievement of any educational goals you may have.
