Signs the student is having issues
Communicating with the professor
Time Management
Note-taking
Strategies/Tips
If the student has a ton of unanswered
questions coming into the session, or
has trouble deciphering either the
lecture notes or his hand-written notes,
this is a big indicator that they arent
comfortable asking their professor
questions.
The student will say something like, I
dont have enough time to read the
book, or the professor goes over the
material too fast. I always ask my
tutees how their week is going so far
and if they say that they have been
really busy Ill ask them about their
time management skills.
In the beginning of the session, I always
ask the students to pull out their books
and notes. If they dont take out their
notes, I ask them if they take notes in
class or what their strategy is regarding
notes. Most classes I tutor for are
lectures, with the professors simply
dictating down the PowerPoints.
I will select one item or topic and
suggest to the student to ask the
professor about it. The only way to get
through the fear of asking your
professor questions is to actually do it.
But if they are intimidated of their
professor, I tell them they can always
ask the TAs or their classmates the
same questions.
I enjoy creating study plans with my
students, especially if the student is a
regular tutee of mine. Well identify
everything the student has to get done
to be ready for the exam, and the time
the student has to complete
everything. Then, we make a
reasonable plan that will work for the
student.
I always suggest taking notes if the
students dont already. If they take poor
notes, I encourage the students to try
to summarize what the professor is
saying and glean the important points
out of the lecture. In math classes, I
advise that the student write down the
first practice problem, but then sit
through the second practice problem
and listen to how the teacher solves it,
so that they now have an idea on what
to do and have the previous example to
practice on.
Studying The student will typically say that he
doesnt know what to study or that he
studies for long periods of time, but he
gets discouraged because he doesnt
see significant boosts to his grade.
Signs the student is having issues
Motivation The student will blame his poor
performance on the teacher, the way
the class is structured, or basically
anything else but himself. In addition,
unmotivated students will seem
disinterested in the session, bored of
being there, and fed up with school in
general.
Textbook Reading Whenever the student doesnt even
know they have a book, that is a HUGE
problem (actually happens more than
you think). Usually, I tutor pre-calculus
and applied calculus, and I can tell you
that most students are not aware that
they have the online textbook.
Study tips are simple: focus on topics
you know will be on the exam. Study in
chunks over longer periods as opposed
to cramming. Highlight and take notes
while you read the chapter and reread
your notes.
Strategies/Tips
Whenever I deal with a tutee who
doesnt want to be in the session, I
remind the student that since he has to
be here, he might as well get
something from it instead of wasting
both his and my time.
Use the book during the session to
prove to the student how useful it is.
Whenever they have questions about
formulas or definitions, I direct them to
the book. Also, I like to walk through
book practice problems with my
students because the books way of
explaining the problems usually makes
more sense than the students
professors way.
Test-Taking and Test Anxiety Basically I hear the phrase, I hate
taking tests, or Im such a bad test
taker. The biggest indicator is when a
student does something perfectly
during the session, but then says, I
wont be able to do this on the test.
The biggest strategy to overcome this
anxiety is proving to the student they
can solve the problems during the
session. This will build their confidence
come exam time. Also, I will give the
student simple test-taking tips and
tricks to help build their confidence.
Mainly, their own lack of confidence is
the only thing standing in the way of
them performing well on tests.