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Articles on
Tutoring 1. Tutoring Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) We convey our gratefulness to all of our professional educators who have
dedicated themselves to the cause of our children! We understand how difficult
it is working with ADHD children. So here we provide you with tutor
tips:- Encourage older children to help the ADHD students with their lessons
and they should specially be allowed to tutor the child. Peer tutoring may be
used whenever possible. Before a lesson presentation, an outline containing the key concepts or
vocabulary should be made available to the children. One should always be careful to increase the pace of lesson
presentation. This is solely because the ADHD children are very easily bored,
even by you. In each session of lesson, various sorts of activities must be
included.Multisensory presentations can be used but screen audio-visual aids
that are potentially distractive for these children should be kept to a bare
minimum. Interesting pictures and or sounds can be employed that directly
relate to a particular lesson. Tutors must make lessons as brief as possible. Also a large presentation
should be divided into various sections. Each and every student must participate actively and with interest in
the lesson presentation. An ADHD student can be appointed as the instructional
aid who will write down the key ideas and words on the board. ADHD students must be encouraged to develop mental images of those
concepts and information that are being taught to them. It is essential to
clarify whether they are visualizing the correct mental images of the main
material. The response of the students in class is real important. Spontaneous
choral responding, frequent addressing on many individuals, and response
through hand signals are to be allowed. Role playing activities to act out key concepts, historical events, etc
can be tried out with the students and these activities are creative too. I
have made my students use trees and cars and various other objects in the
parking lot, representing the events and places in history, to get acquainted
with the history of the Revolutionary War. And it can work really well with the
students. The more exciting a lesson, the more easily it is learned by children.
And for this the teacher must also be able not only to teach but also motivate
and entertain the students. In other words the teacher should take an active
interest in what he/she is teaching. The ratio between the students and the teacher should be as less as
possible which would help in an increasing feedback during times of difficulty.
Parent volunteers,para-professionals,or support staffs can be made to include
themselves in this work. It has been observed that students respond better to such situations
which they find captivating. A student will find his lesson interesting if the instructional medium
and pace are varied from time to time. Students find those lessons interesting
which insist on `hands-on` activities. The time required for a particular
activity must always be coupled with more active learning which would
contribute to an improved performance of a student. Group activities are important and for this every child must be included
in a group in which he has got a specific role to play. Learning stations,
clear signals and procedures help in the student transition from one center to
another. Learning a lesson must be made to appear as if a child is
playing a game. For example, a game like `dictionary scavenger hunts` can
be effectively employed to teach proper use of reference/resource materials Sharing both a physical and a verbal communication with the student is
considered conspicuous. During a lesson a student can be addressed by his/her
name. There should be a personal interaction with each and every student and
the teacher must make an attempt to write about the key elements of the lesson. The students can check one another`s work. Peer tutoring is effective in
helping a student to review his/her concepts which would help the struggling
student to get more acquaintance with recently learned concepts. Use coloured chalk on the black board for emphasis during presentation
of a large volume of information. Proper emphasis on words and pitch variation by the instructor will
result in an increased attention of the students. The tutor must always make it sure that the students establish an
eye contact with him so that the student`s understanding and following the instructions
are improved. A student always works better when he is given one instruction at a time
otherwise the child tends to get confused. Multiple modes of instruction including verbal directions coupled with
demonstrations of a desired task increases the chances of successful learning
of a task. If the student is given a chance to paraphrase the instructions that he
or she received from his or her tutor, then there will be an increased ability
of comprehension and an opportunity to clarify for better understanding. 2. MOTIVATING YOUR PUPIL`S DURING TUITION With the beginning of the new school year, it is the tutors who play a
pivotal role in their child`s success. We provide you with 10 tips which will
motivate your student. They are as follows:- Stress `I`ll Make It
Happen` words:-Always encourage your child to use positive, motivating words
like yes, I can, and I will. Minimise `Bummer Words`:-While
discussing something with the child, be careful not to use negative or limiting
words.No, cant`t, won`t, never, maybe and if, are some of the most common `bummer
words`. Do the Basketball Shuffle
with your child: - One can play the Basketball Shuffle with the student to
encourage independence and a sense of responsibility` To insist on how the
whole family gets the school year off to a good start, the phrase `It`s in your
court NOW` can be written on a basketball and be placed in the kitchen or
family room. To observe how much the child is responsible, the tutor can `pass`
the ball to the student. When the child needs help, he or she can `pass` the
ball back. Thus the whole game becomes a fun, visual and practical way to
emphasise the child`s role in his/her education. Thank You, Ben Franklin:
- Different character traits like honesty,fairness,self-control,order,sincerity,responsibility,self-respect,and
kindness to others can be considered and every week the tutor must work on to
develop each character trait in the student. Ben Franklin used this very
process every week for fifty-seven years and he claimed that it made him a
better and a happier man. Stress the Importance of
Goal Setting:-John Bishop wrote in his workbook Goal Setting For Students` `Students
will take more personal ownership for their education when they learn how to
set and achieve goals and how to use these principles in the classroom. They
will embrace your efforts to help them succeed.` Hence every tutor should sit
down with the student to set down goals for school year ahead. Accountability is a
Two-Way Street:-Tutors, as adults, have to mould the behaviour of their student
and must live up to the promises they have made. Thus if they have promised to
help the student in a recent class project, they must do it. In the success of
the child in school, the tutor and the student are equally accountable. Answer the `BIG`
Question:-Have your student write down the following question on a paper, `Did
I give my best effort to today`s activities`` If the child`s answer is `yes`,
he should be rewarded. If the answer is `no,` then he must be made to list two
things on the paper that they will do tomorrow to increase his or her effort.
This can be done atleast three days a week and writing the question on paper
would help in imprinting the words in their minds. Define success---in your
student`s eyes:-Bishop remarks, `Children need to know that success takes time;
success takes planning and a strong desire; success takes setting and achieving
goals; success involves helping others. Students need to know it`s their achievement,
not ours.` In other word, assist your student define what success means to
them. Grading the student based on his or her performance is a good idea, but
it does not accurately reveal how the student has fared. Though this may seem
like an enigma, but by taking a realistic look, this statement addresses the
underlying distinction between theory and application. Grades would certainly
be one good way to judge a student as far as theory goes, but in case of
application, a teacher must include in it quite some factors which the students
might not be aware of them being graded. Tutors should make use of this article
to evaluate what they should and what they should not do when after an assignment,
they give grades to a student. Assessment basics Prior to testing a student by means of an exam, the tutor needs to
clearly spell out the portions to the students, on which they will be tested
on, and what standards are required to be maintained. Then, the tutor needs to identify the methods to be used for testing the
student. Here, the concept of fairness and validity, apart from reliability,
play an important role. Validity refers to the content that is intended to be
measured, reliability refers to the similar type of results, if the assessment
is taken many times, and fairness includes not being biased towards any student
on any ground, whatsoever. For a valid assessment, it`s very important to measure the behaviour,
knowledge and the attitude that is intended to be measured. To cite an
instance, when the student is tested on the various minerals and vitamins in a
certain given food, then it does not really mean that the student is
knowledgeable enough to prepare a diet for his family for a week or so,
irrespective of the family size. Then the extent of the measurability needs to
be checked. Basically, assessments by themselves cannot be termed as valid or
otherwise. That actually depends on the reason why their use is made. So
checking these aspects before qualifying assessments is a must! To draw a conclusion as to which student should receive an `A` grade and
which needs to receive a `B`, the final exam will be a valid test, but would
not count if you were to determine the actual progress of the student overall.
A standardized assessment is what needs to be followed. These set standards are
to be followed by all the persons involved in assessing the student. Besides,
the questions put forward for assessment must be enough to verify whether or
not the student is apt at the task. For a fair assessment task, the assessment should consider the knowledge
and values associated with all the students, must reflect on whatever has been
taught to them in the classroom, and should not be biased on any grounds. Often, any given assessment turns out to be biased because a single
approach is followed for determination of the student`s capabilities. For
instance, tests related to norms have a positive correlation with IQ, social
status, etc. of an individual which differs from child to child. So for fair
assessment, various tests need to be taken or combined. Schools may use
norm-referenced tests along with criterion-referenced ones which would clearly
reflect the strengths of all the students, which keeping the weaknesses in the
closet. Therefore, all the grades that are applied to students should be fair
and free from all bias, and also must be valid and reliable.
A tutor is a valuable individual in the society. For any child or even a
grown-up, the impact that a tutor leaves on him or her, no other person does.
Students are greatly influenced by the way the tutor loves them and also by the
way he or she carries himself or herself on and also their moral integrity. Most
tutors become the role model for their students, and they try to follow the
tutor and imitate all his or her mannerisms and styles. An ideal tutor becomes
the ideal person for the student. The tutor can make the students follow them anywhere. In the childhood
days, the students normally consult their teachers about what they intend to do
in the future. So it goes without saying that a tutor at that stage can have a
big say in the life of a child. On the other hand, a corrupt tutor is a worse
case than the corrupt politicians, judiciary etc. A shady teacher can not just
be described as a bad person himself, but also he is the reason for misleading
the next generation. With incompetent and dishonest teachers in the country,
doomsday would not be a far cry. Given the huge importance and the significance of tutors in the society,
only the best of the best needs to be qualified for this noble job is the
intelligence and integrity of the individual. It is sad to see the state of
affairs where incompetent people too are nowadays getting into this profession
with an amazing ease. In fact, most of the people who fail to get absorbed in
the labour force ultimately join somewhere as a tutor, spelling future disaster
for the country. Having said that, many tutors are also not interested in their
jobs due to the low salary that they get, which is only marginally more than
that of a clerk. In fact, to make their two ends meet, most of the teachers have to opt
for some part-time jobs, and also the status of the primary as also the
secondary teachers in the society is not at par with other qualified people
like engineers, accountants or doctors. In fact, due to the low respect that
they command in the society, they are often compared to semi-literate workers
as well. So anyone who genuinely loves this profession would require a great
deal of courage to let go other advantageous opportunities and become a tutor.
So it is pertinent that tutors get the due respect in the society that they
really deserve, and get good salary and perks. A tutor must take active participation in social events. Besides, the
teacher must delve deep into the child`s psychology and deal fairly with the
students, without any bias. If any student makes a mistake, the teacher must
not lose his cool and must be patient with the child to resolve his problem.
When criticized, the teacher must take it in a positive way, and shouldn`t be
afraid of admitting his or her own mistake, if he or she has made any. In short, one can take tips from the character of Mary Poppins, found in
children`s books and movies who was an ideal tutor to the kids. You certainly
don`t need to have any magical powers but an inspiration from a fictional
character always helps and guides you to the right path. 5. Preparing for a
tutoring session ` advice from other tutors Sometimes the parents get stressed very much because they have to lay
down an outstanding study plan for their homeschooled children. But the parents
must not get worried. There are various homeschooled curriculums available that
you can browse online. You can even buy these in a package. Freedom is the best thing that one can enjoy about homeschooling.You are
free to choose things that you want your child to learn and they will learn it.
As nobody knows your child better than you do, it is you who can plan the
curriculum better. However, it is of foremost importance that you check whether your study
plan for your child is allowed by the state you reside in. It is because that
some states allow the tutors to follow only that study plan for their children
that conforms to a public school system lesson plan. It is best if your state lets you to follow your own lesson plan. Before deciding on a lesson plan, you can go through some online home
tutoring programs that are easily available. You can select one that would suit
you and your student best. The good news is that these programs have proved to
be of great help for home tutoring. Usually, these programs provide the tutors with a detailed outline of
everything that is to be done. It also includes a list of books and various
learning and teaching aids. You can do these either offline or online.
Therefore you do not have to be online throughout the learning session. But
generally an online homeschooling is much more interesting and helpful. In home tutoring, you have a lot of flexibility, especially in deciding
about the time. The students do not have to wake up early in the morning to
study.But, remember, discipline is a must for your student and you must teach
it to him. When you are planning a particular lesson, it is best that you should
have some idea about the topic that you are going to take up
during a weekly session. It is highly important that you keep a
record regarding the educational progress that your child makes each week. It
is a vital aspect of the whole system of home tutoring. Outdoor activities are a must for your child and hence, should be
included as a part of the whole curriculum. Various outdoor activities not only
help in relieving boredom, it is also an interesting way of teaching. You can
go to a park with your student and make him understand different plans and
bridges and especially those which have historical importance. Libraries are
one of those places that you can make your student to visit, thus providing him
or her with an opportunity to explore various kinds of books that are available
there. The ranges of job opportunities can be explained to the student if he is
made to visit a police station or a fire station and this would help him to
discover things on his own. All these outdoor activities can make a child capable of going through
various experiences which could not have been possible otherwise. These will
expand the horizon of your student`s knowledge. The neighbourhood and the
community that you live in are potentially capable of supplying with huge
learning possibilities for your student and you have to employ them fruitfully
and in an intelligent manner. There is infact no vital substitute for what your student learns on his
own. Make your teaching session such that your student won`t simply sit back
with the lessons and blindly goes through the tutoring session. Make each
session is enjoyable for the students and also make sure to include such lesson
plans that will teach the students via practical experience. Academic learning cannot be complete without student motivation. It isn`t
easy for everyone to have high levels of motivation. Most find it hard to
motivate themselves. Learning can become quite a bore and seem so arduous as to
put children off. The solution is to make learning a process that motivates on
its own, so that children can then be motivated to become better
students. To be focused on something you need at least some motivation. It has
been noticed that students with higher motivation levels perform better in and
around the classroom. There is a positive impact on learning from such
students. There is a high level of concentration and an increase in the efforts
that go into the educational processes. Highly motivated students take full
advantage of such opportunities and often display enthusiasm, curiosity and
pleasure in doing so. Students with lower levels of motivation, however, were seen not to
display such emotions when involved in the process of learning. There was a
lack of engagement with what was going on in the classroom as they were not
concentrating fully or putting in enough effort. It could be said that such
children end up losing focus because their minds are elsewhere, wandering
rather than staying focused on the task at hand. Such students need some
guidance and need to be motivated into changing their attitude to learning in
order to make them better students. Here are some things you can do to try and push up your motivation
levels:
Don`t forget that you can only be focused and motivated on your own.
Teachers, parents, friend and coaches might be able to help you but motivation
can only come from within you. Tell yourself that. Remind yourself that the
only person stopping you is you. Maybe you need an image of what you define as
success. Keep such an image handy and use it to good effect when your
motivation levels are low. Success is a good motivator. So is a past failure.
Remember what you did wrong and how you felt. Use it all to motivate yourself
into doing better this time. Go out and succeed by pushing yourself. 7. How Should I Make My Surrounding More Study Friendly` In order to excel at whatever you are doing, you need to be motivated
and focused. You need the right kind of working environment to achieve high
levels of concentration and inspiration especially when learning. This doesn`t
mean that a particular environment is a good one and that you need to go about
setting it up immediately. Find out, instead, what works best for you. People
have different requirements for the creation of stimulus and focus. Try some of
the following ideas:
Try and make your studying time high quality. What
this means is that you should spend time completely focused and immersed in
what you are doing. Studying like this for an hour is better than three or four
hours of average quality studying time. Remember that improving your
environment will assure better performance. 8. What do other
parents do to help their children succeed in education` When your child`s school teacher sends all the assignments to be done at
home as hometasks, don`t you wonder what exactly your child does in school all
day long` Infact, this is a common thought that crosses every busy parent`s
mind at some time or the other. But instead of thinking and wondering, it`s
time to get started with helping your children with their home work. If you are wondering about your child`s school`s responsibility, let me
give you some advice. It`s going to be a never-ending affair, so instead of
grumbling about it, try to make it a more exciting experience for you and your
child. I really hope that you and your child would enjoy it thoroughly. I
thought about the activities that me and my child, indulged in the evenings, as
sheer waste of time, have turned into something very fruitful in the long
run. Here I provide you with some advice that will help you see this `imposition`
in a completely different way:- 1. Plan a schedule:- It is from my own experience that I say, if you decide on a particular
time schedule when your child can complete his or her home tasks, you will be
able to spend the evenings happily with your family. This saves you from
getting stressed unreasonably about the tasks that your child has still not
completed. If you plan your schedule from before, you will find out that you do
not have to go through the various assignments in a rush and the entire
learning process would be tension free and therefore, full of fun. 2. You must not separate your child from your family by sending him or
her to a different room to do the homework:- As a responsible and a loving parent, you must fully involve yourself
with your child`s entire educational activity including their hometasks.These
days, the dinner table is not only meant for serving and having food, instead
it is during dinner that whole family, including the kids, gather together and
have a chit chat session. During dinner or any form of family get together, if
you send your children to a separate room to complete their assignments, they
have a tendency to consider this as punishment and this will induce in them a
fear and a notion that learning is not good. Learning is a wonderful experience
and a privilege for a child. The parents should never destroy it simply because
they don`t wish to involve themselves with the child`s homework. 3. Make the entire experience joyous:- If learning is to be a good experience, then it should be done with a
lot of fun.Suppose, your child is being taught about fractions, what you can do
is, you can bring some measuring cups from your kitchen and can illustrate by
showing how two halves make a whole! You can also give example using a brownie
cake and by cutting it up into several pieces, you can teach them the
fractions. Your child can later enjoy it as a nice treat from your for
understanding the lessons and doing the home work correctly. These methods are
not only very creative but your child would develop a passion and liking for
learning. When I employed all these aforesaid methods, the results have been
excellent. When my son gets an assignment that he needs to complete at home, he
comes home with interest and excitement because he knows that he has his
parents to assist him whenever he needs our help. He realizes that his parents
are really interested in what he is learning as he sees us taking sometime out
of our busy schedule to sit with him and go through his assignments. Not only with our son, but these ways have worked wonders with us as his
parents. We no longer see our child`s home tasks as something that have been
forcefully imposed on us. It has become a way to show how much we love and care
for our child and also to convey our values to him. This is an absolutely
fantastic experience. I hope, the next time your child brings home tasks from school, you
should be grateful to your child`s school teacher that he or she provided you
with a chance to be with your child in times of his needs. Trust me, you will
feel great about it! 9. Last Minute Revision Techniques
from Home Tutors When the exam time comes around, students start having anxiety attacks
because they have not studies as much as they should have. They spend a lot of
sleepless nights worrying about the upcoming exams, and some worry all through
the course of the exams, wondering how they will fare in each of those exams.
The negative thoughts and apprehension often has an adverse effect on the
students` performance and prevents them from scoring as much as they could. Here, the key is to relax! Start studying for the exams with some time
in hand and you`ll do very well! Examinations are meant to test how much you know about a particular
subject. They bring together some questions from all aspects of the topic in a
challenging situation. But, irrespective of whether you are appearing for your
Board exams, an entrance exam or the Medical Entrance Test, you don`t have to
have panic attacks. You simply need to follow the tips given below: Don`t worry yourself needlessly because that will always have a
negative effect on your performance. Think of the worst which could possibly
happen, and then think optimistically telling yourself that you are not that
badly off. Ask your friends what the important parts are of the syllabus and
concentrate on those parts only, because at the last minute, you won`t succeed
in studying the entire syllabus. If you are studying last minute, and haven`t done any preparations so
far, then focus on the subjects you are not good at. Talk about your fears
about these subjects with your friends and family, so that you know that they`ll
always support you. Think also of the subjects you are good at and spend some
time studying them. After having studied as much as you can in the very short time available
to you, keep answering mock tests. Bring out the question papers of the exams
of a few previous years and keep practicing them. Often the same questions are
set in later years, so you could certainly benefit from this. While studying, jot down a few points clearly which you can glance over
right before the exam. When you study, you should sit in a place where you won`t be disturbed
constantly. You should clear your mind of all worries and then start studying
with a focus. Take a break when you feel too tired. When you feel fresh again,
then study the difficult subjects, and when you feel slightly tired, move on to
the easy subjects. Do not read repetitively. Keep making points on a notepad while you read
a chapter, which you can read later, instead of reading the same chapter over
and over again. Do not reduce the amount you sleep, as your body needs it. Also eat
nutritiously. On the day of the exam, just relax, reach early, and be
confident. The best way to prepare for exams is to start revising quite far in
advance. Chalk up a revision timetable and follow it properly. You`ll just
stress out if you leave everything to the last minute and cram. 10. Are educated
people more successful in life than those who aren`t? It is often asked if education has any direct correlation with the
amount of money one makes, and if it doesn`t then why there is such a great
stress on education. Not all rich people were good in studies, and a lot of
them banked on their expertise and knowledge in certain areas to become
financially successful.
Knowledge is definitely a source of power, or as some
believe, potential power. You will be successful in your sphere of work if you
have correct knowledge on the issue you are working with, and can apply your
knowledge to the job at hand. Thus, to become an expert in the field of your
choice, you need to acquire the right knowledge and develop it. People don`t realize this fundamental fact, and they
chase after each new money-making scheme. They need to understand that the key
to being successful and making money is to build on their own knowledge. You
can set up your own business based on your expertise, or use it to build
someone else`s business. If you decide to leave your studies after secondary
education, you can still be successful, if you have some substantial knowledge
and expertise in an area to stand you in good stead. You could then set up your
own business and develop on this knowledge. It demands hard work, but you could
build up your own success. However,
all things said, education should always be pursued because it will definitely
broaden your mind and widen your horizons. A lot more options will be open to
you when you have an education. Most corporations advertise jobs for college
graduates, not high school graduates. You will have a lot more confidence in
yourself when you know that you have good qualifications to support you. |
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