EFFECTIVE EFFICIENT TUTORING
To be the best you can be, you must strive to be effective and efficient.
This happens when you tread the path of continuous improvement.
Tutoring is multi-dimensional and has the potential to change lives positively.
It is only limited by our imagination, as there is always a better way to teach.
THE ASSESSMENT
Assessment begins with the student, who they are, where they are, where they need to be and the gathering of information so that all relevant factors can be considered, to decide where our journey will start and its final destination. The assessment process is ongoing as learning is a dynamic process with multiple options. To maximize learning you need to use flexible planning. This involves knowing where you student is, being aware of, and open to all the available options before you decide what to do next. Making the right decision at the right time is a critical component in success. Fixed lesson plans don’t work well because they are too rigid. With flexible planning you are able to pick the best option for the student anytime and by doing this they will learn more.
AIMS AND DOMAINS
My first aim is to help my students become independent learners. I use a collaborative approach which links what we are doing together with the relevant Key Learning Concepts. This usually involves the parents as well.
My second aim is to prepare my students for the future which involves defining the teaching domain. When senior students are preparing to sit an exam, the domain body of knowledge is related to the exam. For junior students my first priority is to establish a solid base of fundamental knowledge and then do extension work to prepare them for the mathematics they will experience in the future. With a year 8 student, for example, I would cover topics from years nine, ten and eleven.
My third aim is to be better, so I do my own research and try new thing. When you stop moving forward the next step is backwards.
THE EXERCISE BOOK
The first thing I do is give every student an exercise book. Everything we do during a session is recorded in the exercise book. I draw keys in the margins so that my students can find the Key Concepts. Eyes in the margin indicate sections that are worth looking at again. Students keep the book as it is their learning resource which they use to review the work we have done together. It is an integral part of the learning process.
Learning is now defined as a change in long term memory which is a step forward. That is why I encourage my students to review new work two or three times. Learning to review your work is an essential skill and when junior students experience difficulty at high school, they have the exercise to help them.
One parent told me that her daughter’s exercise book was like gold.
KEY LEARNING CONCEPTS
COGNITIVE LOAD THEORY
Understanding Cognitive Load Theory is critical for tutors and their student. You Tube has a good selection of excellent short videos.
Working Memory is limited as it only has about five holding spaces. Once these are filled students hit the wall. However, if the material a student needs to use exists in their Long-Term Memory it can be used without taking any hold spaces in the working memory and that makes you smarter.
. Reviewing what you need to three time over a spaced period of time will embed it into Long-Term Memory, which is the key to success._
THE 20% 80% SPLIT
If a student reviews the school work at the end of the day, they retain 80% of what they have learned, if they don’t, they just retain 20%. Essentially this means that if you don’t review your school work you are wasting your time at school.
WHEN YOU MAKE MISTAKES, YOUR BRAIN GROWS.
We literally learn from our mistakes, because if you are not making mistakes, you are not learning. Making mistakes is an important part of the learning process. Students need to have an opportunity to make mistakes safely.
THE ROLE OF THE SUBSCONCIOUS
The subconscious never stops working. It even works, organising and making sense of its input, when you are asleep. All it needs is good quality input and then it will do the work for you. That’s why you need to concentrate on what you want to learn.
My students really like that idea.
