I have learned so much from tutoring this past year… Although it is difficult to narrow down my experience to just 10 main takeaways, these were the most impactful and educational for me. Each takeaway is equally important, as they all work together to achieve the same goal: Helping my student grow in their reading and resiliency.
- Process Praise– I have learned that there is a certain language that students respond to better in terms of motivation and wanting to put in the work to improve. If a teacher simply states “Great job John you are a natural!” The student will respond to this language by thinking that the work that the put in to get to that goal did not have anything to do with their excellent outcome and that they do not need to practice to gain knowledge it will just come to them. Instead, teachers should use statements like, “Great Job John, you should be so proud of yourself. I can tell that you have been practicing.” Language of that nature will encourage students to keep up their hard work and to keep the mentality that if they put effort into their learning they will have good outcomes. I did not know that process praise existed until the Village Project and it has helped me encourage children to learn and grow in so many ways and it is so great to see my words have such a positive impact on children and I cannot wait to use more process praise in my future as an educator.
- Curriculum– There is always a particular order in the way that curriculum is built and it is that way for a reason. Going through the lessons given to me, I saw obvious progress in my student’s comprehension of what she was learning. Going astray from any lesson is not helpful to students whatsoever because there are aspects of each lesson that are crucial in order to get to the final goal of the lesson, which is for the student to be able to understand and be able to use the information learned and connect it to other things they learn in future curriculums. The Village Project taught me to never skip steps, if you go through the lessons even when they may seem easier for your student than other lessons, you will see progress in the end and everything you do in those lessons truly helps your child grow.
- Comprehension– Not everything that you teach your child will initially click. Every child is different; some materials may be more important to spend more time on than others, which is okay. I often found myself nervous about not getting through the whole lesson if I stay on one topic too long, but I learned that it is so worth is to spend more time on certain things within the lesson if it helps your student comprehend the new information given. As long as you do not spend the whole lesson on one activity the entire time, it is okay to focus on certain activities within the lesson. The book at the end of the lesson tie together all of the material covered in the lesson to practice the skill and also test comprehension of the lesson, so the book is an important part of the lesson that should not be skipped if it can be avoided. Another part of comprehension I learned about when tutoring was that if your student does not understand the material the way you present it to them initially, it is okay to switch up the way you are facilitating the lesson and cover the material in a different manner that may work best for the child you are working with. Each kid learns differently and enjoys learning in different ways, and it is more than okay to do a different game or different activity with the same concepts if you see fit.
- Relationship Building– Building a relationship with your student and gaining their trust is so very important. When your student trusts you, they listen to you. If your student listens to what you say and teach to them they learn better. During this school year I learned so much about how relationship building affects a student and I got to experience it for myself. I built an extradordinary relationship with the student I worked with and she was always excited for our sessions and to learn. What more can a teacher ask for other than a student who loves to learn and grow and always shows up with a positive attitude? I cannot think of anything better and it makes the experience that much more rewarding. My students teacher came by to meet me on the last day and thank me for helping my student. She told me how much she talked about me in class and how excited she was to go to tutoring on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Village Project taught me that relationship building is a key factor in teaching, as without a solid relationship between a teacher and a student where there is trust, students are not able to learn all of the material.
- Improving– Throughout my experience in the Village Project I logged each session and described what went well and what needs more time and needs to be improved both with my student and with myself as a tutor. Keeping track of what needed to be improved helped me plan what I was going to work on in the next lesson and focus on. Logging also helped me create goals for myself in ways that I wanted to improve to help my student learn better. Throughout the school year I improved a lot in the way I went about my lessons, my language, my attitude, and my resilience also improved throughout the school year whilst working with my student on her own resilience.
- Working Together– While I logged my sessions my tutoring coach responded on what I could do to help my student and improve myself. She also gave me tips on different ways to approach things to help my student. While giving me tips and constructive criticism she also gave me lots of support. We worked together to help my students learn and grow. The Village Project taught me that the best way to help a student is to work together with others and share ideas and opinions to help others. While helping each other help others we help them in a better way. The more help and people working together, the better education your student will get. It is a team effort.
- Reporting– While tutoring I learned what aspects of a lesson look like when they go well, and when they could be improved. I learned what points are important to mention in a report of a lesson and how it went like the lesson fidelity, level of engagement, improvement, and what needs to be revisited in the next lessons. The Village Project taught me what a proper report of a lesson looks like and what information is important for the report to contain. It also taught me how important reporting is because without it, we may never improve on the things that need improving if we are not able to not only remember what happened a week ago in a lesson, but also we aren’t able to receive feedback on what we can do to improve for our student.
- Timing– During a lesson, we only get 30 minutes to facilitate our lesson for the day. In the beginning, we have a connection-type introduction to allow us to build a relationship with our student. Then, we go through several activities and read a short book. Finally, we end with a positive note of closure before we end the day. While going through the lesson, you do not want to take too much time on one activity, but you also do not want to spend not enough time for your student to comprehend and practice the material. The Village Project taught me so much about gaging time and using my time wisely for each lesson. If something was going really well, I would move onto the next activity. If it was not going well, I would try a different tactic in order to try to help my student comprehend it better. If that did not work, we would have to revisit it later. With extra time at the end it was never time to just mess around and talk to one another. I was always encouraging my student to use the time available to practice more things that she wants to get better at. At the end of a lesson, if we had extra time which was rare, we would practice her skills on her letter reversals that she had for a few certain letters. The Village Project taught me so much about my time management in lessons.
- Flexibility– Time flexibility was one thing, but some days we would have to assess resiliency at the end of our lesson which would force us to have to accommodate to the time frame and change our lessons where we see fit. Additionally, some days people were absent and we had to help our peers and take on their student. On the second to last day, I had to take on two students, mine and one of my peers. They were both on the same lesson, but they learned at different paces. It was very difficult for me, as it was a new experience for me, but I managed. I set a goal for myself that by the end of the lesson, if they both leave improving on at least one thing, it was a good day. The Village Project taught me a lot about being flexible in arising situations and concurring them with my head held high knowing I could handle anything that was thrown in my direction.
- Preparation– For each lesson, I learned throughout the school year that preparing for our lessons beforehand was very necessary not only with time in mind but also because your student notices when you are not prepared. If you are well organized and prepared for the lesson, your student notices that you care about their growth and learning and they put more effort into the lesson and they are more attentive. Although things may not always go the way that it was planned, it is important to know what the activities and goals are for the lesson before you start so that you are able to approach the lesson in the most beneficial way for your student. The Village Project taught me so much on the importance of preparation prior to meeting with students.
