THE TUTOR JUGGLE:

HOW TO BE AN IMPACT TUTOR

DEFINITION OF A TUTOR

You are NOT a: • teacher or • sage on the stage!

You ARE a: • friend• coach• mentor• role model • facilitator• guide on the side

OUR PHILOSOPHYWe believe in combining WHAT to learn withHOW to learn so that clients can master learning new things in other classes, at work, and at home using the same strategies.

Theoretical FrameworkIf learning is to take place, four things must happen:1. The client must be in a

comfort zone.2. The client must believe he

can do the difficult task.3. The client must use

resources (text, teacher, notes) to help think through the task.

4. The client must be able to self-regulate (manage time, use study strategies) independent of the tutor.

FACILITATING LEARNING Here is how a tutor can make those four things happen. . .

1. WELCOME THE CLIENT!

Create a good mood.

“Good moods . . . enhance the ability to think

flexibly and with more complexity,

thus making it easier to find solutions to problems . . . This suggests that one way to help

someone think through a problem is to tell them a joke.

Laughing, like elation, seems to help people think

more broadly.”

Goleman, D. Emotional Intelligence. p.85

Hello! I’ll be with you in a minute!

How has your day been? What did you think of that game? What’s coming up

this weekend?

2. MOTIVATE THE CLIENT!Give them a reason to believe in themselves.

“People who persist have a growth mindset:

They know that their intellect can grow and develop

with effort. People with fixed mindsets

give up because they believe their brains are

limited in what they can do.”

Dweck, C. Mindset: The new psychology of success.

Let’s start with what you know! Think

back. Tell me about it. Draw it out. Write it out. I’ll help you. See you ARE doing

it!

3. INVOLVE THE CLIENT!

Get clients to the ah-ha moment for

themselves.

“Only by wrestling with the conditions of the problem at

hand, seeking and finding his own solution (not in isolation

but in correspondence with the teacher and other pupils) does

one learn.”

John Dewey, How We Think, 1910

Why? What if? Can you give an example? Try

explaining in your own words. Tell me more.

Let’s look at your notes and text.

Now you try.

4. SELF-REGULATE THE CLIENT!

Teach them HOW to learn.

Our clients often struggle to study without you. They

need good study and time management tips so that

they can learn how to make time for learning and

“to assess what they know and do not know.”

National Center for Education

Here is how to schedule study time in your

planner. Here is the way I studied that. Here is how to make memory tricks. Here is how to get

your professor’s help.

SEQUENTIAL DEPLOYMENT

SELF-REGULATEShow the client how to improve studying and assess progress.

INVOLVEPrompt the thinking that wrestles to understand new

information.

MOTIVATEAsk the client to demonstrate and build confidence.

WELCOMEMake the client feel good about coming.

You can think of these 4 objectives as goals that you deploy in a certain order.

BEGIN

END

WELCOME

MOTIVATE

INVOLVE

SELF-REGULATE

TUTOR JUGGLEBut more than likely, you will find that you can incorporate these objectives into your conversation at many different points. So in essence, you are

juggling four balls: • ready at any time to be friendly

and welcoming, • ready at any point to have the

client demonstrate he/she does know something,

• ready to stop talking and do some active listening to your client,

• and ready to interject with a study and time tip.

YOU INCREASE YOUR IMPACT WHEN YOU. . .

• Attend training meetings

• Ask questions

• Review training materials

• Certify

GREAT TUTORING!

GOOD TUTORING!

THE TUTOR JUGGLE

WATCH IT AGAIN!