Tutoring Tips

use names as much as possible, even if a learner is just responding "cool" in the chat! ("Yes, Amir, I agree-it IS pretty cool!") I always double check name pronunciation as learners enter the session to make sure I get it right (and even make notes if that helps). I've found using names really helps engagement!

Most tutors ask practice questions during sessions. When doing this, ask learners to explain how they got their answer. It’s a good opportunity to correct misconceptions, get new perspectives on questions, and engage learners.

Whenever I schedule sessions I get more learners by using this tactic: Start off with 5 spots, then when those are filled extend to 10, and so on. This tends to bring more sign ups than having 15 spots from the start. One theory I had was its sort of a brain thing. When people see there are limited spots left(like 1 or 2 since its such a small number) they think I should sign up before its full and clearly since its filling up fast its probably good. Whatever the reason it has definitely helped me increase the amount of learners joining my sessions.

If you struggle with low learner interactivity during sessions and/or only the same one or two learners answering, consider cold-calling learners to answer questions. However, there are a few caveats to this: make sure that you set the expectation at the beginning of the session, and try to pick people who are already typing answers in the chat, if you asked learners to solve a problem and type answers in the chat.

Make sure that when you are not talking then learners are communicating or responding via chat or speaking. Ask questions if there is no response and possibly move on if no one answers the question.

Mental check in or something to see where your learners are at?

--In Math, avoid using examples that could result in the correct answer even with incorrect steps. For example, avoid questions that involve the number 2 because 2+2, 2*2, 2^2 all have the same result. It is difficult to know whether the learner actually used the expected technique. --After a problem is solved, reflect on the given data. Ask questions like "How would the answer change if the given value was x = 40 instead of x = 4 ?" or "What if the value of x was not given at all?" This really helps in understanding the concept required to solve certain problems. --Choose easy-to-recognize variable names. For example, use a, b, c instead of alpha, beta, gamma. Avoid confusing variable names. For example, avoid using "n" and "m" in the same problem (they sound and look similar) --Non examples are as important as examples. --Ask learners to give examples with certain criterias. For example, while discussing bijective functions, ask one learner to come up with a function that is injective but not surjective, another learner - surjective but not injective, another learner - both, injective and surjective, and another learner - neither injective nor surjective. And then have learners compare and contrast their examples. --While discussing an "If ... then ..." theorem, explore questions like "Does the converse hold?", "Does the inverse hold?", "Does the contra-positive hold?" (Spoiler alert: The contra-positive always holds)

It does help overcome that initial awkward moment and helps everyone become familiar. https://ablconnect.harvard.edu/do-now-research

Sometimes concepts and definitions have language that can be hard for learners to understand. To avoid this, try explaining the concept as if you were explaining it to a kindergartener. This way, it helps make the concepts appear as a lot simpler and more familiar to learners, making it easier for them to understand.

English is not all learners' first language so watch out for colloquial phrases they may not understand and most importantly, make sure everyone is comfortable by just slowing down and letting people process things.