The Role of a Tutor
- A tutor coaches students. A tutor is qualified to teach students in one or more subjects, usually outside of school hours. But, they are more than just teachers. Experience and a broad education is essential for a tutor.
- Tutors have the students best interest at heart. The student’s classroom work and test performances are potential keys to how a tutor can help a student.
Tutoring one-on-one and small groups
- Some tutorials (the tutoring time) are one-on-one, others are small groups.
- There are advantages to both kinds of tutoring.
- One-on-one is more intense as it keeps the student completely focused on the tasks for between one and three hours. They are the complete focus of the tutor.
- Small groups (no larger than six) allows students to see how they are progressing; that they are not the only one with the problems; help each other; and often develop deep friendships.
- Students learn more in one-on-one tutorials, but they are exhausting.
- Students develop deep bonds with their teammates when they work in groups.
A student centred approach.
- Different students have different areas they need to improve. For example, one student may have great structure in an essay but no content. Another student may need more structure in their essays yet their grammar is excellent.
- In reading, some students have little confidence, yet have little trouble finding the meaning of a word within the text, giving them greater speed. Others cannot read without a dictionary, looking up every word they do not understand.
- A student centred approach identifies where the student is weak and couches the student until the roadblocks are removed or at least lowered.
We provide tutoring for a variety of students.
- Our students come from everywhere: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, Denmark, Finland, France, Guatemala, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Yemen.
- Some students are native speakers who wish to improve their essays. Other students have minimal English language skills. Then, there are most students who are somewhere in the middle.
Focus on Goals.
- Young adults and mature students focus easily on goals. Keeping the goal in focus is important.
- Teens are learning about the value of goals. Often, parents and students do not always have the same goals which can effect tutoring sessions. The actual goals are not as important as having some.
- We help students develop realistic goals that they can achieve. We work together to set time frames and quantifiable improvements. For example, a student may decide that by April 14th, they will be able to have solid structures for essay level 6 of the BC Provincial writing level.
- By setting small obtainable goals, students see their successes and strive for higher acheivements.
