Praise for Be a Great Tutor
“[F]ull of inspiring stories, ideas, and genuine help…. I plan on using these teachings techniques in my future work. [Be a Great Tutor] is a valuable book for tutors and teachers at a time when creative teaching and education is so important.”
Dorothy Dyer, MA Architecture, University of New Mexico; MA Education, Harvard University
“Be a Great Tutor is as warm, encouraging, and clear in its advice as one would hope a tutor to be. I recommend this book for seasoned classroom teachers as well as for tutors who are just starting out. It offers gems for all levels of experience.”
Susan Gold, MA, high school teacher
“As a principal, I found this clearly written, extremely readable, and informative book to be very helpful in guiding my teachers to help our students flourish.”
Sasha Clayton, MA
Principal, Hilldale School, Daly City, Calif.
“As a tutor, I found Be a Great Tutor’s practical tips to be very useful. The book provides concrete examples and strategies for many subject areas. It’s worth your time!”
C. Elgersma, MFA, tutor and classroom teacher
Be a Great Tutor: The Inspiring Guide to Tutoring All Ages
Erin Quinn O’Briant, MFA
Published by Lit Books
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2010 Erin Quinn O’Briant
All rights reserved. Be a Great Tutor is the property of Lit Books and Erin Quinn O’Briant and may not be reprinted in any form without permission.
Students’ names and identifying traits have been changed to protect their privacy.
Print ISBN-13 978-0-984-58131-3
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-9845813-2-0
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
E
rin
Quinn O’Briant is the author of the novel Glitter Girl. She
tutored students in a variety of subjects for many years, both
privately and at City College of San Francisco. Erin has a bachelor’s
degree in Religion from Emory University and a Master of Fine Arts in
Creative Writing from Goddard College; she is pursuing a Master of
Liberal Arts at Stanford University. Erin lives in the San Francisco
Bay Area, where she teaches writing and literature; she is also the
editor of www.Tutoring-Expert.com, the companion site to this book.
Contributor Christopher Balme is the director and co-founder of Spark, an innovative mentorship program for middle-school youth. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School of Business, Chris moved to San Francisco and founded a successful tutoring cooperative, serving youth throughout the Bay Area. In 2004, Chris co-founded Spark with fellow educator (now Spark Board member) Melia Dicker. He was honored with the Bay Area’s Jefferson Award for Public Service and the prestigious Draper Richards Fellowship as well as the “Forty Under Forty” Leadership Award from the New Leaders Council. Learn more at about his organization at www.SparkProgram.org.
Be a Great Tutor
The
inspiring guide
to tutoring all ages
By Erin Quinn O’Briant, MFA
With contributions by Christopher Balme
www.SparkProgram.org
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
Tutoring Success Story: Math
Tutoring Success Story: English
Chapter 2: The Three Fundamentals of Tutoring
#1: Meet Students Where They Are
#2: Build Trust and Then Listen
Tutoring Success Story: Reading
#3: Build a Bridge
Top 5 Tips: The Three Fundamentals
Chapter 3: Spotlight on Reading
Tried-and-True Reading Instruction Strategies
A few good reasons to read
Top 5 Tips: Spotlight on Reading
Chapter 4: Spotlight on Writing
Success Story: Confidence
Writing Skills: What to Expect from Different Ages
Success Story: the Internal Editor
Success Story: Jump-Starting a Stalled Student
Special Section for Writing: Problems & Solutions
English Teacher Jargon
Top 5 Tips: Spotlight on Writing
Chapter 5: Spotlight on Math
Coping with Math Anxiety
Top 5 Tips: Spotlight on Math
Chapter 6: Study and Organizational Skills
Student Success: Right Stuff, Wrong Stuff
Top 6 Tips: Study & Organizational Skills
Chapter 7: Testing, Testing
Success Story: Conquering Test Anxiety
Top 5 Tips: Testing, Testing
Chapter 8: Group Tutoring and Workshops
Student Success: Letting Students Set the Agenda
Success Story: Student-Run Groups
Success Story: Hushing Henry
Top 7 Tips: Group Tutoring and Workshops
Chapter 9: The Interpersonal Side of Learning and Tutoring
Top 5 Tips: The Interpersonal Side of Learning and Tutoring
Chapter 10: E-tutoring
Top 5 Tips: E-Tutoring
Chapter 11: How to Be an Independent Tutor
Pro;s & Con’s of the Tutoring Business
Tutoring for Social Justice
Presenting Yourself Professionally Online
Top 5 Administrative Tips for Independent Tutors1
Chapter 1: Introduction
A Word from the Author
Tutors, this book was written for you. When I began tutoring, I wished for a practical, easy-to-use resource with tips and advice on tutoring different ages and subjects. My friend Christopher Balme did, too, and he graciously allowed me to share his wisdom, stories, and experience in this book. I am extraordinarily grateful for his many contributions — and as you read this book, you will be, too!
Be a Great Tutor is packed with ideas from the thousands of tutoring sessions we’ve done, covering everything from teaching multiplication to working with adults who are returning to school. Nearly every page has a tip or trick you can use. And throughout the book, you’ll find a few main themes: how to support your student with unconditional trust, build bridges between their strengths and challenges, and help them not only excel academically but feel confident in themselves as learners.
Our experience, and the findings of several academic studies[1], have shown that tutoring is one of the most effective — perhaps the most effective — approach to helping a student learn any subject, from reading to calculus. For all the teachers, parents, professional tutors and helpful friends out there, here’s to your success.
Our Success Stories
Over time, a good tutor can have an enormous positive effect on a student, and this book is here to provide the practical tips you need to be a helpful, even life-changing, tutor. Of course, we’ve had our share of tutoring frustrations — and you’ll hear about some of those. But we’ve offered our success stories throughout (in special font) to help inspire your tutoring practice. We’d love to hear your stories, too. Just visit www.Tutoring-Expert.com/success-stories.html to share tutoring success stories online (and grow your online presence, too).
Tutoring Success Story: Math
Chris was tutoring a fourth-grade girl, Rebecca, who despised multiplication tables. Months ago her class had mastered them and moved on. But every time the chart came up, Rebecca felt overwhelmed and anxious. Her parents were worried; they had never seen her struggle like this before. Chris asked her what she felt when she first saw a multiplication table: “too many numbers!” she said. He suggested trying a small piece a time: just one three-by-three section of the table. This time, Rebecca didn’t look nearly as worried. She looked at the table for a second, and began filling in boxes here and there. Chunk by chunk, Chris and Rebecca went through the whole ten-by-ten table, as Rebecca’s confidence grew. Two sessions later, she was almost ecstatic when it was time to return to the whole table: she filled it in without difficulty. She had been overwhelmed by the sheer number of numerals on a full table, but with some thoughtful and individualized tutoring, Rebecca mastered the multiplication tables and happily moved along.
Where We’re Coming From
Where do all these stories and tips come from? From real life — Erin and Chris have led thousands of tutoring sessions with dozens of students, from elementary school to adult, in subjects ranging from reading to SAT test preparation to organizational skills.
We believe in the potential of every student, and in the potential of tutors to transform learning. You do not need an advanced degree to help another person learn. Of course, basic academic skills are important. But you can share your knowledge with a student in a way that makes her want to learn, and that will help her succeed in school long after your sessions are over. We’ve assembled our best practices in tutoring here to show parents, teachers, homework helpers — and, yes, tutors! — how to inspire and motivate students of all ages.
A quick note on pronouns: we’re breaking the mold of current usage by using the pronoun “they” in the singular throughout this book. We also use “he” and “she” sometimes, too, when referring to students; we made these choices to avoid gender-based bias in our writing. We hope it works for you, too.
Dip in from time to time to find the specific information you need, read it through cover to cover for a general course on tutoring, or use the materials we’ve assembled to enrich your sessions.
Tutoring Success Story: English
Erin’s student, Ellen, was a single mother who had failed English at a local community college three times. She had barely attended middle and high school, and didn’t believe she would ever be able to read or write well. She had met many teachers who discouraged her from continuing with school, but she kept trying, in part because she wanted to set an example for her young daughter. During their first couple of sessions, Erin noticed that Ellen picked up on new concepts fairly easily and had a true interest in learning. Erin began working with her weekly, noticing and complimenting Ellen’s intelligence, curiosity, and drive.
Then one day Ellen brought in a sign-up sheet for the California AIDS marathon. They began talking about activism, and Ellen revealed that she was very concerned about the global AIDS crisis and about genocides in Africa. Putting aside Ellen’s usual English assignment, Erin asked, “What would you really like to write about?” Ellen’s eyes lit up. “I want to write to Congress about these things,” she said. “But I don’t know how.”
Together, they logged onto the computer and found the names of Ellen’s representatives in Congress. During the next several weeks, Ellen wrote a series of passionate letters to them and to business executives sharing her concerns. After Erin showed her how to look up and request library books online, Ellen also began reading voraciously. Each week, she would come in with a new book — on Rwanda, the Holocaust, AIDS, or globalization — that she wanted to discuss. Her writing and reading skills improved dramatically over the following months, as she discovered how her own interests could relate to school.
Often, classroom teachers don’t have time to find out about each student’s personal interests — but tutors do. Encouraging students and tailoring lessons to them can lead to astonishing results.
Chapter 2: The Three Fundamentals of Tutoring
Have you ever heard a teacher say, “If you don’t remember anything else I say, at least remember this…”? Well, here it is. The section with the essence of this whole book. Three techniques that build the foundation of a positive, productive, and fun tutoring experience.
#1: Meet Students Where They Are
Students spend weeks and months studying details that someone else decided they should study. What’s more, they often have to study them in one way only — by sitting quietly at their desks and listening. How often are they asked, What are you interested in? How would you like to learn this material? These are powerful questions. Just asking them and listening to the answers will provide you with insight into the student’s situation, and will show the students that you are interested in them.
Meeting students where they are means beginning a tutoring relationship by discovering the student’s learning styles, goals, strengths, and challenges. Try gathering these pieces of information. Ask out of genuine interest, and listen carefully (maybe even take notes!):
1. What are your favorite and least favorite classes? Which subjects are easiest and which are hardest? Is that because of the teacher or the subject? If it’s the teacher, what about them makes them so good/bad, easy/hard?
The answers to these questions reveal students’ interests and how they respond to different types of teaching. If they love one teacher because he or she lets them write stories, that’s a helpful clue for your tutoring. If they hate math but then it turns out that’s because of the teacher, then you’ve learned that there may be an opportunity to rebuild their interest in math. Look for patterns like these in their responses.