6 Strategies for a Successful Tutoring Session
- Dr. Ashley L. Conklin
- Sep 30, 2018
- 3 min read
The key to working effectively with tutors is preparation. As with virtually all things academic, the phrase “proper preparation prevents poor performance” describes the best strategy for getting the most out of a tutoring session. The more prepared you are for your session, the more productive it will be.
To get the most of your tutoring sessions and be adequately prepared to demonstrate your knowledge on exams, follow the following five steps:
1. Assess Yourself.
Before your session, figure out what you know and what you don’t know. Where are the gaps in your knowledge? Are you completely lost and need to be taught an entire lesson? Or do you merely need help with a specific homework problem? Take some time to determine what you know and what you don’t so you can be clear on what and how much help you will need from your tutor.
2. Set Your Expectations.
Be realistic. Obviously, the more help you need, the more sessions you will need to book. Don’t expect a tutor to be able to cover several weeks’ worth of content in a single session.
3. Make Sure You Take All of Your Materials to Your Session.
Gather ALL of your supplies to take with you including your textbook, notebook, pencils or pens, calculator, notebook or graph paper, handouts, and PowerPoint or professor’s lecture notes. If you have a workbook or your professor has posted a review or practice test, make sure to take it with you so your tutor can walk you through problems or watch you as you work them.
4. Communicate Your Goal for the Session to Your Tutor.
Whether you need to be taught or re-taught a lesson or you want to complete a homework assignment, make sure you let your tutor know your goal so he or she can help you reach it.
5. Ask Questions!
If you have prepared sufficiently for your session, you will have a list of questions or things to ask your tutor regarding concepts you don’t understand, homework problems you attempted on your own but did not complete accurately, or gaps in your notes that you need help filling in.
Also, if you are confused at any time during your session by a concept or an explanation your tutor provides, seek clarification. Don’t be shy, intimidated, or embarrassed that you don’t understand. Your tutor’s job is to help you learn information, and any good tutor will be happy to rephrase explanations or work with you until you master the content.
6. Seek Mastery.
Tutors are great at explaining information so that you understand it. Understanding information, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. You need to not only understand the information but also master it. If you are working on a homework assignment with your tutor, make sure you can work the problems on your own. That might mean you have to work the same problem several times. Initially, the tutor might walk you through the problem with considerable support. The next time, you may attempt the problem on your own, but your tutor may need to provide direction if and when you get stuck. It’s important to keep going until you are able to complete the problem from start to finish without assistance or direction from the tutor. This is the single biggest mistake students make during tutoring sessions; too often, student mistake “understanding” for “mastery” and assume that they will be able to work a problem because they understand how to do it when the tutor walked them through it.
Follow these suggestions and you are sure to have a productive tutoring session!
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