Just like in a recipe, there’s much more to becoming a good chef than just putting the ingredients together! Your personalized and unique way of doing things will give color, flavor and increase your students’ satisfaction. So I’d like to take this opportunity to offer you: “The recipe for successful tutoring!”
The chef’s recipe for tutoring!
Hummmm! I remember those late afternoons when I would do my homework and lessons, surrounded by the smells of the supper my dad would lovingly concoct. This comforting, peaceful and reassuring environment is the same one we have to offer our students, even from a distance! Of course, there’s more to tutoring than just the components. So here’s a chef’s recipe, into which you’ll need to add your magic to make it a succulent, nourishing and effective dish!
Before you start work, make sure you’re available and focused on the task in hand. Don’t forget that, first and foremost, you’re passing on “who you are“. Tutoring, like a special recipe, also means being comfortable in your own skin and aware that you are, at all times, a role model for these young people who need a pleasant, positive image of the adult who is looking after him or her.
- Courtesy
- Empathy
- Trust
- Listening
- Enthusiasm
- Dynamism
- Rigor
- Respect
- Curiosity
- Reflective thinking
- Punctuality
- Patience
- Openness
- Attachment
- Organizational skills
- Knowing how to plan
And now, how do you make tutoring work with all these ingredients?
Steps to follow :
- Use your commitment and register with SOSteacher to find a quick, customized match.
- By demonstrating kindness, courtesy and empathy, your first communication with the parents and teacher will establish the trust necessary for the next step.
- You’ll need to be a good listener, enthusiastic and dynamic to prepare a pleasant first session in which a healthy, respectful attachment is the key.
- The rigor of your reflective thinking and respect for your student’s particularities will serve to plan and organize future sessions according to this new information. Get to know your student well: his strengths, his characteristics.
- I’ve already talked about attachment in another article, which will confirm the need for a healthy relationship if you want to ensure your student’s success.
“How do you tutor? Well, it’s all about seeking out that comforting smell of supper simmering!”
Work tools and pots!
Whether you work online, at home or in a library, you’ll find many possibilities and tools to meet the different needs of children and teenagers. Tutors will find and draw inspiration virtually or practically from games, readings, targeted videos and a variety of learning activities.
Cooking
It’s all in the pot! It’s in your generosity and understanding of your child’s needs that you’ll discover the hundreds of possible aromas and flavors. Properly planned and organized, all these flavors can simmer on a gentle fire. The pleasure of getting to know each other a little more each week, and of nurturing each other’s bond of attachment, will give you more ideas for perfecting your accompaniment. The better you know each other, the better you’ll teach.
“But if you tame me, we’ll need each other. You’ll be the only one in the world for me. For you, I will be unique in the world. St-Exupéry
It is therefore essential to take the time to check the student’s availability before each lesson. Bridging the gap between school and home, taking the time to introduce the session remains essential and even primordial. You have to listen and ask questions. It’s up to us to adapt to the child, not the other way round.
Tasting
Now is the perfect time to taste the fruits of your labor! It’s a real taster, as you’ll soon see how your students are developing at every level.
Taking the time to congratulate them unreservedly will bring that famous touch of magic to “The recipe for successful tutoring!”
By Chantale Hébert
B.A., AMI, M. Éd.
