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Anyone ever tutored?
Posted by trailofpen • 8/24/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: education, tutoring
So there are tons of tutoring jobs nationwide funded by the NCLB act that pay anywhere from $15-25/hr. I've tutored probono volunteering, but never paid. Even then, I would have anxiety because I feared I wasn't helping the kids out. I would stay up at night thinking about it. But the prospect of being paid causes me even more anxiety.
Does anyone here have experience tutoring in a paid setting or any advice on teaching in general?
User Comments
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I tutored online for a while after I had finished grad school and was looking for a teaching job. I like what I do now much better (teach classes online) because of the flexibility of hours. The tutoring was a little bit of a drag (for me) because it was in the evening and I don't like working evenings--I like spending them with my husband, relaxing. Of course, you have to work the hours in which the students need you.
It was a means to an end for a while though.
Another online job I had was in scoring essays for the GRE (through the ETS--educational testing service). Now THAT paid very well--much better than tutoring.-
I prefer the evening hours because it gives me time to package and send items out to people in the mornings. How does online tutoring pay compared to in-person tutoring? Do you prefer online over in-person?
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Online tutoring is much more convenient--you can do it from home. It pays slightly less (from my experience) than in person tutoring. That generally pays 20+ per hour (at least in CA it does--I haven't done it for quite some time though).
I far prefer online tutoring--and online teaching but mostly because I am bicoastal and this allows me to travel around the country easily.
I *do* miss teaching in person--but I enjoy online also.
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I worked for my college for three semesters as a tutor. I tutored French, English, Algebra I, and History, and taught a study skills class.
How can I help you?-
When I've tutored, I've tried to relay concepts in ways that the student would grasp it, whether visually, or metaphorically, or through a topic that was of interest to the student. I did a lot of experimenting because most of the time the student wasn't responding to the classroom teaching methods or wasn't very interested in learning at all. Do you think it's best to stay away from outside-the-box tutoring, or just stick with the status quo?
Oh, and it's mostly children that I would be dealing with. -
For me, the best approach was to determine what was at the root of the problem. For example, if the child is having difficulty with division, does he know his multiplication tables?
I have always approached tutoring as being student-driven, quite the opposite of a classroom situation that is teacher-driven. Each child has a different need and a different way of getting that need fulfilled. Some are visual learners, some auditory, some tactile. Find what the child needs to grasp concepts.
My youngest child was learning disabled. He could print, but he seemed to be unable to write in cursive. By fifth grade, he was still printing like a second-grader...it upset his teacher and the other kids teased him. He liked to draw, so I taught him calligraphy over the winter break and by the time he returned to school, he was beginning to write cursive...he could connect the art form of calligraphy with the conversion of printed letterforms to cursive ones.
For tutoring older kids, I found teaching them how to take notes in class and how to study those notes improved their performance.
Bottom line, though, I think to successfully tutor, the student's needs, reason for needing the help, and learning style must all be incorporated. -
Wow, thanks. I'm starting to build my confidence back up.
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I've tutored kids who either needed to catch up when entering a new school system, or kids who were excelling at their studies, and needed the extra challenge that the classroom couldn't provide.
In either case, my best advice is to tailor the curriculum to the student's specific learning needs. Take some time initially to get to know the kid, and how s/he learns best. Then implement that teaching style so that you can help the kid study successfully.
How much time do you have to tutor the student, and what age range are you working with?-
A couple of hours each session, K-12 students.
Yeah, it's probably best to get to know the kid first. How would you determine how they would learn the best. Would you try a few different methods and see which one stuck?
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