On the road to tutoring. What are the problems?

Teachers often become tutors. For some of them, this is a way to earn extra money, for others, it is just a hobby. Many come to the sphere of tutoring when they are still at school, pulling up younger children, someone as a student, and some come as experienced teachers. But regardless of age and experience, each tutor faces certain problems. Over the years of work, a teacher usually develops a number of rules that he or she tries to stick to when communicating with students and parents.

Challenge 1: lack of motivation. Try to come up with actual scenarios

Meeting with a tutor is usually about learning on top of full-time learning. For many students, that may be really too much. It is challenging for them to motivate themselves and the goal of a tutor in such cases is to make acquiring new knowledge fun. At the acquaintance stage, find out what the goal of the student is, what to focus on - grammar, speaking, preparation for exams.

However, it is always the responsibility of the educator to inspire the student to study. One way to motivate pupils is to learn more about their interests outside of the classroom. Once you know what your student likes, you can apply his or her interests to the learning process. It's inventive to give real-world situations that convert the learning content into the topic the student is fascinated by. For example, if your pupil is keen on drawing, you may ask him or her to visualize an area of knowledge you are studying in the form of a short graphic novel or a lovely mind map. This is also where parents can help by communicating with tutors and letting them know what their child's interests are.

Challenge 2: stress and anxiety. Breaking the stereotypes

Students who attend tutoring sessions might have experienced problems with learning in a traditional classroom setting. Their parents are sometimes putting additional pressure on the students to make the most of their time during tutoring.

These students may feel that they are visiting a tutor because of their previous failure. With the association of learning with failure, they will never consider it as improving their skills for success. That's why tutors first of all need to understand the student's learning style on the whole. Connecting learning and adventure might be a wise move. It's decisive that anxious or stressed pupils approach their studies with a sense of excitement. Tutors are supposed to experiment with different methods that align with the individual needs of the pupil. This is easier in a one-to-one setting. If you do not observe any progress, you are able to adjust your instruction style on the spot. As you become more knowledgeable about your student’s needs, you will be able to anticipate problems and address them as soon as possible.

Challenge 3: bad behavior. We take a unique approach

All teachers have encountered students with bad behavior at least one time in their career. Tutoring sessions as a rule offer an opportunity to get a closer look at the student and anticipate his or her problems. After each lesson, talk to the student. Discuss all the pros and cons that you notice in the work, discuss how you can correct certain shortcomings for the next lesson.

For example, if your student has a troubled home life and tends to act out in class, you will need to adjust your instruction style to contain the bad behavior and channel the negative energy into positive learning. Do not forget that every pupil deserves a unique approach. Therefore, tutors should first reach out to parents. They are the best resource to improve student behavior. By being in touch with parents, you will be better adapted for carrying out your tutoring responsibilities.

Challenge 4: laziness. Looking for the answers

From time to time tutors face students who just refuse to put in the work. Then teachers have to scale back assignments. Sometimes they give students time in class to complete work they didn't finish at home. If you're dealing with a student who ended up tutoring on account of laziness or other problems preventing them from delivering work, you should focus on building on their prior knowledge and skill set. Individualized learning might be the answer here.

As you're dealing with a single student, you have all the time to decide what approach will work best. The solution could be prizing through fun educational games. Finally, the students will get a feeling of fulfillment, and that will become a long-awaited reward. While tutoring pupils who do not want to complete their tasks, the best thing you can do is to be enthusiastic about their everyday progress.

Challenge 5: problems in acquiring new knowledge. It is better to play

Educator might be dealing with a student who needs extra time to practice and master new knowledge before using it as building blocks for further learning.

If you are teaching a new idea, one of the best ways to introduce that type of knowledge is through didactic games. These will provide an environment for pupils to practice their skills and learn new things. The students will not only learn a new concept or skill but also find a way to practice it straight away.

Challenge 6: pressuring parents. Time to resist perfectionism

When it comes to learning, parents would always be a part of the process. Dealing with high-pressure parents is a real challenge for every tutor.

Children of high-pressure parents tend to focus extremely hard on getting the perfect score. Thereby they ignore the concepts that are being taught. Day by day, their knowledge management suffers. Moreover, their level of anxiety rises, particularly when pupils cope with this or that topic. Tutors should be prepared to teach students that lack of perfection at the very beginning is by no means a failure. In fact, tutors could encourage students to experiment being free to produce a wrong answer. All in all, tutoring is about solid support and constant encouragement for learning. I hope that these rules will help you in your activities and add confidence in your abilities!