Tutoring is Really Learning

After tutoring for 10 years, and now working with a group of tutors to help them leave an imprint on more students than I could possibly reach alone, I feel I have a strong sense for what tutoring can mean to both the student and the tutor. Every time we tutor, we learn. We learn more about the student, their learning style, their passions, and how we can better help them. We also learn about how to teach, how to relate, and how to assess a student’s needs. 

Tutoring is rewarding because of the one-on-one connections tutors and students form, but also because every session is an opportunity to improve as a teacher. One of the best examples of this is teaching a student to read. Every session, we see noticeable improvements in fluency and, more importantly, confidence. Students go from sounding out words, to reading full sentences, to building reading comprehension one paragraph at a time. I asked some of the tutors who work with TriTutoring for their opinions. 

Carly says,

The BEST part is watching a student go from reading each word individually to listening to the read a full sentence fluently with little to no trouble!

That isn’t always easy. As Sophie explained:

The hardest and simultaneously most vital part of tutoring for me is overcoming my tutee’s lack of confidence. Learning to read is like deciphering a code, and not understanding that code can be incredibly demoralizing and frustrating. However, once I find that story, game or activity that sparks a lightbulb, it’s like summiting a mountain. There will be rocks and roots on the student’s way down, but the hardest part, having faith in herself and proof she can overcome her challenges, is the hardest hurdle to overcome and yet the most rewarding.

We help find ways for students to enjoy learning, whether it be reading or calculus. We work with students to build confidence and foundations, whether it be physics or history. And... as we teach, we learn.