What It Takes to Be a Tutor
Being a tutor is an important job as education is the most direct path to success in our society. Knowing this, helping struggling students can be a gratifying vocation and can help your students reach their goals and become more productive and satisfied members of our society. This directly makes society a better place to live, when people are better educated and more socially responsible. Better education truly benefits us all. So what does a tutor actually do? And what is a day in their life like? First of all let’s cover the many duties of a tutor. A tutor is likely to travel to schools, libraries or to a students home to conduct a tutorial session. In our modern, technologically advanced society these jobs may also be conducted online or via one of the many networking apps.
What Skills Are Required to Become a Tutor?
A tutor must possess strong organizational skills and be able to schedule appointments with students and parents. A quality tutor must learn the tools of their profession and stay up to date on the latest trends and technology in their industry, this may include: Textbooks, learning equipment, educational software and other research materials that make learning easier for their students and likewise compliment their profession. A good tutor is proficient at preparation and can build effective educational workshops with ease and collaborate on academic projects. They will provide support and run inspiring sessions either “one-to-one” or with a small group of students. Tutors are often participants in professional development, they do this to “up their game”, to learn and practise new and progressive tutoring techniques. Organization is paramount, as is the ability to provide an environment conducive to learning and productivity. A tutor should be able to oversee their students effectively and efficiently and monitor their progress in whichever environment they choose to learn in. They must possess the ability to review materials with students, to discuss writing projects, find working solutions to various problems and check all assignments in a timely manner. Providing insightful and supportive feedback to students is an essential skill and it builds the sense of confidence needed to motivate students to achieve their goals.
Making a Difference as a Tutor
Any worthwhile tutor can effectively prepare a lesson/session plan or module in a fashion that best supports their individual student’s educational needs and academic goals. Just as important are the organizational abilities to keep detailed records of all aspects of a students progress, results, grades, comments from educators- and ensure all this personal information remains strictly confidential. Building specific strategies as well as individualized strategies for your students are important, these are referred to as IEPs. Creating good quality teaching materials, tests, quizzes and study sheets is just part of any tutoring job. As is a clear line of communication, this needs to be established to monitor any student’s progress and display it clearly to said student, their teachers and parents. This is commonly done in the form of student reports, phone calls, emails and in-person review sessions. A tutor must collaborate effectively with all types of students, parents and administrators when discussing a student’s plans, needs or progress. They must also possess a non-judgemental outlook while assessing progress during these sessions. Proficiency at scoring on diagnostic assignments and assessments is key to both the student’s and tutors continued success. A tutor will competently teach tips and tricks to develop great note-taking, study and test writing ability. As a tutor you will provide private one-on-one instruction or teach a small group to improve their performance, skills and prepare them to succeed on important tests and exams. The tutors we have covered in this section prepare students for some of the most difficult and esteemed tests a student can take. These are the SAT tests that can help determine which university you may qualify to attend or to which you may receive a scholarship and the MCAT, a prerequisite for entry to medical school and the privileged life of a Doctor.