Tutors-
A bit shorter blog post this week. It’s a slow week on
campus as far as activities outside the Success Center are concerned, but I ask
all tutors to remember that many math students are facing midterms this week
and we need to make sure we are always doing our best to give them as much
confidence as we can as they go into these exams.
Having said that, a few notes:
Staff meeting: Daniel will be scheduling a staff meeting to be held in the next week or two. Monitor your email for notification of the specific
date and time.
Weekly reflection forms: as noted previously the weekly
reflection forms will be sent out on Thursday, due back to Daniel the following
Thursday. Most of us have used these forms before, but if you have any
questions feel free to talk to Daniel.
Office hours will be posted shortly. The staff meeting will
cover, among other things, some important info about the office hour. Please remember
that the Umpqua Room is available to tutors and students who need quiet place to work during their office hour.
Please remember to keep filling out the emotion bank account
forms. The information gleaned from them is valuable and will be used to
further improve the Success Center.
Everyone in this center has a slightly different approach to
tutoring. However, many of our students face similar issues and need help
overcoming similar obstacles. Imagine you are a student in the scenario
represented in the video clip. Imagine the feelings of frustration and
helplessness after your first day. You go to a tutor to (hopefully) get a better
idea of how to handle the workload and get through the material. What do you
expect from your tutor?
Now, switch roles. You are the tutor. You are tasked with
giving a student the confidence and skills to pass a thoroughly difficult
course. How would you do this?
The midterms are putting all the math students into hyper-drive. It is fun to get to work with everyone who is coming in. I hope they all do well.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed a lot of students coming in for help on math, I guess, as Larissa said, they must be gearing up for those midterms! It is nice to see that more students are coming for help, compared to the first week when very few students came in.
ReplyDeleteI would expect a tutor to try their hardest to be able to help me, or at least direct me to someone that would.
ReplyDeleteAs a tutor, I would try to make every effort to explain the problems/concepts as well as I could, and
if it became evident that the person was just getting lost, I would ask if they would want somebody
else.
I think one of the most important things to do is to give the student confidence in themselves and their ability to figure out how to do something. I would try my hardest to explain to them how to figure out the problem they were working on. If they were not understanding the way I was explaining things, I would assist them in finding another tutor and explain to them that there are many different styles of learning and maybe another person would be able to explain it in a better way for their style.
ReplyDeleteas the student I would expect that the tutor would do their best to understand my questions about the class/es answer them, and help me understand the answers to my questions about my class/es.
ReplyDeleteas the tutor I would try and answer their questions, help them understand their school work and same as Cornie said, also letting them know about other college resources.
As a tutor, positive remarks about answering a question correctly can make the student feel confident. I would guide the student towards the answer but not point it out completely.
ReplyDeleteI realize the weight and pressure that the students are going through during this hyper fast 5 week summer term. It can be overwhelming for the students, especially those who are taking multiple classes. I work hard to be as clear as possible and make sure that the student is understanding the subject matter before we move on to other things. It is vital for them to understand the concepts for them to succeed.I assure them that their hard work is being seen by others including their teachers and that it will pay off in the end. I also encourage the students to spend as much time as they can with the tutors because the time is so short.
ReplyDeleteConfidence is a very big thing. When students go to see a tutor it is usually because they are struggling and don't feel comfortable with the material. Giving them confidence when they do something correctly can help go a long way.
ReplyDeleteas a student i expect the tutor to be able to explain things in a different manner than that of the instructor. and as a tutor i try to do the same, also keeping in mind how i may be able to explain things in a way in which the tutee can relate.
ReplyDeleteAs a student, and previous tutee, I have always expected the tutor to be an example of how I should approach a difficult situation. Most of the tutors are very confident in the subjects they work with and exude confidence because they have been over the material several times with many students. As a tutee, I help my tutees gain confidence by concentrating on their strengths and slowly integrating their weaknesses. Everyone learns differently, so having different niches helps to show several examples in different ways.
ReplyDeleteAs a tutor, I would do the best I could to make the students feel comfortable along with being confident. I would take my time, and explain thoroughly to the student the steps in solving the problem. But most of all I would do my best to make you smile.
ReplyDelete