Joy's Tutoring Workshop
The Do's and Dont's: Middle School Math Madness
Rule #1: Be a Know it All!
Although you may have earned a high school diploma or even a college degree, it is never a bad idea to look back on skills you learned in primary school. During my 12th grad year, I was placed in PreCalculus, however when it came down to me teaching/tutoring the kids things about the Lattus Method or permutations and combinations I could not do it. I was lost. it is best to look up subjects online that you know you will be tutoring for extra practice. It will help trust me!
Rule #2: Know your Limit!
Just because you are tutoring a group of students who's educational level is not equvilanet to yours, does not mean that you can handle tons of them at one. Know your limit. Know the amount of students that you are able to take in one session. You have to take in account that the reason why your students are there is because they were unable to comprehend the material given to them as efficently as there peers. This means that they will be having more questions and more questions require more attention. Do not overflow your session with students becuase you want to help as many people as possible, doing so could eventually hurt your students.
Rule #3: Be patient!
Although you may have earned a high school diploma or even a college degree, it is never a bad idea to look back on skills you learned in primary school. During my 12th grad year, I was placed in PreCalculus, however when it came down to me teaching/tutoring the kids things about the Lattus Method or permutations and combinations I could not do it. I was lost. it is best to look up subjects online that you know you will be tutoring for extra practice. It will help trust me!
Rule #4: Be opened minded !
The kids will sometimes be right. You may have skipped rule #1 and did not relook at what you have learned from primary school. If they tell you that they believe what they are doing is right, and what you are doing is wrong double check. It won't hurt.
Rule #5: Teach don't Cheat!
If you just tell the students how to do a problem that will not help them. Inorder for them to complete any problem that falls under the same category as the one that you are helping them with, you have to show them step by step why things are the way that they are. Be sure that you are asking them questions as you are going over the problem so that you are sure that they understand. Giving them the answers without walking through process will leave them stuck.
Rule #6: Think out the box!
If you notice that one student is beinifiting from the way you are tutoring and not the other, notice the similarities and differences of the students and what skill level they are on. One might need a slower pace turing and one might need more indivualized time. What this means is everybody is different. If something is not working for someone try something else. Its not the end of the world.
Rule #7: Look Back at it!
Have a quick review of what the students were taught in the session before. It is hard to go foward with something if what is learned before is forgotten. Do not spend ti much time on going over the sessions before work because you will never move forward to teaching the new material. Its all about time management!