Tutoring Tips – 5 Golden Rules For Being An Effective Tutor
Being a private teacher or tutor is a rewarding career, but it comes with its challenges. The role requires that you be able to organise your own scheduling, communications, and lesson plans. Then there’s the massive responsibility of having a positive influence on your students. Don’t allow yourself to feel burdened by this – you are already proving yourself to be a thoughtful professional by looking into tutoring tips. Follow these five golden rules for being an effective tutor:
1. Keep your website updated
If you are offering online services, then it is paramount that your web presence is always up-to-date and that you advertise regularly. Online tutoring in Australia is a competitive field, so if you are not reaching out to your target audience online, your competitors will.
Start with a simple website or professional social media account containing your profile as a tutor, the services you offer, and your contact details. You can advertise on social media for free or at a low cost and also promote your services on online forums, social media groups, and classifieds websites.
2. Know your clients’ academic calendar
It’s easy to lose touch with the academic calendar when you’re no longer a student yourself. While you’re working as a tutor, however, this is an inexcusable mistake that you must avoid. It is ideal to schedule your work and breaks around the school calendar relevant to your clients. Being available during final exams and high-demand study periods is important for business as you can pick up a lot of extra work. It’s also invaluable to your clients who rely on your support during these times.
3. Be an active listener
Communication is such a big part of tutoring and should be a skill that you’re always focused on improving. Being an active listener is a vital skill for tutors to develop. It will allow you to pick up on s client’s issues and needs during conversation and then directly address them rather than sticking to a scripted tutoring session that covers general topics.
Allowing your client to feel heard will also help them feel more comfortable in talking openly about their study challenges and goals. So, always give your students time and space to speak and take every opportunity to encourage them to share their plans and thoughts.
4. Adapt to each student’s learning style
You may need to try different teaching approaches to make sure you communicate in the most helpful manner for your students. If a student doesn’t understand the language you use, try rewording what you say rather than repeating yourself.
Take note of which learning style best suits your student and stick to what works. Do they learn best by talking and expressing concepts in conversation? Or do they seem to respond better through visual learning? Every student is different, so every tutoring session should be a little different too.
5. Continue studying your areas of expertise
School textbooks change often and are sometimes even revised on a yearly basis. This is particularly true for subjects that are advancing rapidly, like science, technology, and communications.
It is vital that you stay up to date in every subject you teach. This allows you to provide your students with updated and relevant information. Check-in with other tutors as well as public and private education resources to make sure you are following the latest standards.
Stick to these tips and commit to using your skills to support your clients’ in their learning, and any student will be lucky to have you as a tutor.
