Thread: Tutoring

The thing I hate most about teaching is when I set work that will take some time to do and the whole class just puts down their heads and work without speaking. I always get the urge to distract them just for something to do. I could almost hug the kid who puts up their hand to ask a question. Having time during class time was something I wasn't prepared for when I started to become a teacher. Sometimes I walk up and down the aisles checking work, but most of the time I just sit there in the silence taking it in.

Could you help your student neaten up his binder? Maybe buy some indices for him and help him label them and put work in the right place?

Good luck with your teaching practice

Love Xyphir

Well it is good to hear that this kind of thing is normal (although I do realize one-on-one tutoring is different than teaching a class). I have thought about helping him organize his binder, it's just finding the time. He is SO far behind that I am feeling overwhelmed just thinking about getting him caught up. Especially since I'm limited to a set number of hours (his father is paying me, so I don't want to waste their money).

I do eventually plan to see if we can get his binder sorted out, but for now I just don't have the time.

Others may disagree with me, but getting him organized is the first step in helping him catch up. I tend to get angry that more teachers in middle school don't make this their #1 priority at the beginning of the year. High achievers are nearly all organized. I don't know if that organization is learned at home or is just part of 'who they are.' Most students need help with HOW to get organized.

I have 7th grade homeroom and also have them for 4 classes. Day 1, all the books, notebooks, folders for my class go in your desk. Everything else, in your locker. When it's time to get ready for 'transitioning', they go to their lockers, where everything they need out of my room is located. I wish I'd thought that through in my first year, but no, I had to learn the hard way.

Color code notebooks, folders, etc. by subjects. Gone is the problem of the wrong notebook in class. Write down assignments into your notebook, transfer to assignment notebook at the end of the day. If the kid can write fast, get a spiral assignment notebook, keep it turned to the current date and write assignments directly in. Always include the due date!

The list goes on and on, but these skills are not intuitive for most students. Like metacognition skills, direct instruction helps the development.

1) I feel like I am just sitting there and watching him do homework sometimes. He has trouble getting it done without me pointing him in the right direction but it frustrates me that we are just doing work that he should be able to do on his own. Am I doing something wrong or do other tutors spend time just sort of pointing students in the right direction?

I do a LOT of tutoring. As a math teacher, I think it is essential for the *not so great* math student to get the extra help. It is entirely normal to give a couple pointers and then sit and watch the kid do the work.

2) He is not very motivated, his binder is quite messy and he misses a lot of assignments. This is very frustrating because he is a very smart kid but the marks he gets are 30% lower than he is capable of. Any tips for motivating a student.

I'm with kdoh on this one. He needs to get organized and it's not going to happen by just telling him to get organized. It would be money well spent for his folks to pay for a tutoring session while you help him organize his binder.

3) Any general tips or tutoring methods that have worked well for any of you?

Tutoring is best done by questioning (IMHO). When a student asks me a question, I ask them a question that will lead them to the answer that they want using knowledge that they already possess. It's a process in building a bridge across the little misconception gaps in their learning to create a whole and powerful background.

Are you tutoring for just one subject or for all subjects?

Thank you very much to everyone.

I am tutoring for all subjects (which is tricky, because I don't know all the subjects). I'm great at math, but so is he, so no trouble there. I help him the most in science because I love it and he does poorly in it, so I can help there. With social studies, I'm pretty much learning it as he does.

Now I will make a serious attempt to get him organized. Hopefully I can get him to be good with it, I think a lot of what he likes me for now is that he gets his homework done but puts it off when I'm not around.

I am also getting used to the answer a question with a question thing. I'm used to just giving out answers (I'm the guy people in class come to when they don't get something and when I'm in a hurry I just give the answer and a super-quick explanation). So I'm trying to break that habit and get him to learn how to find them on his own.

Thanks again,
Keilan