Tutoring 101: New Tutor Orientation

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Tutoring 101 New Tutor Orientation

• Mount Wachusett Community College
• Academic Support Center

Adapted from the College Reading and Learning
Associations 1996 Tutor Training Handbook, by
Tom Grier and Karen Hancock
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• Welcome and Introductions
• Your Role as a Tutor
• Video Guide for Tutors
• Beginning and Ending a Tutoring Session
• Tutoring Dos and Donts
• Tutor Tips
• Co-dependency A Vicious Cycle for Tutors
• Tutoring Safely
• Referral Skills
• Final Words

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Techniques for Successfully Beginning and Ending
a Tutor Session
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Beginning a Tutor Session

• Arrive on time for each session.
• Have all of the material you need on the desk.
• Books
• Pens and paper
• Calculator
• Notes

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• Decide upon a tutorial plan of action for the
  session together with the tutee.
• Ask what the tutee would like to work on in the
  allotted time.
• Involve the tutee in planning and goal setting.

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• Encourage your tutee to actively participate.
• Have your tutee do as much of the assigned tasks
  as possible do not do the work for him or her.
• Guide your tutee to discover the answers or
  solutions on his or her own.
• Ask probing questions instead of questions that
  can be answered with a yes or no.

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Ending a Tutor Session

• Do a brief wrap-up of the information covered
  in the session. If time allows, clear up any
  questions regarding the course content just
  covered.
• Highlight what was accomplished.

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• Assign work that you want the tutee to have
  completed before your next tutoring session.
• Complete all paperwork required of the Academic
  Support Centertutor worksheets, payroll, etc.
• Keep track of your hours!

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Tutoring Dos and Donts
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• Do
• Involve the tutee in planning
• and goal-setting.

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• Do
• Be honest if you do not know an answer. This
  gives you a chance to model how to find
  information.
• Consult a dictionary.
• Use the Internet.
• Ask another tutor
• Ask a professor.

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• Do
• Learn the tutees strengths and weaknesses.
• Ask questions.
• Have the tutee bring in work, graded and
  ungraded, to see what skills need improvement.

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• Do
• Help the tutee
• feel good about
• what he or she is
• learning and accomplishing.

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• Do
• End each session on a positive note.

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• Dont
• Concentrate only on weaknesses.
• Dont
• Forget to point out progress and improvement.

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• Dont
• Make decisions for the tutee.
• Dont
• Lose sight of the ultimate goal of tutoring the
  students academic independence.

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Tutoring Tips
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• Be sure your tutee takes notes to refer to when
  studying and/or doing the assignment on his or
  her own.

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• Be sure that both you and your tutee ask
  questions so that you are both involved in the
  tutoring session, not just you.

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• Give your tutee enough time to answer your
  questions.
• If you have to, remove yourself for a few minutes
  so as not to interfere with your tutees thought
  process.

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• Have your tutee explain back to you how to do a
  certain problem or assignment.
• Even if you have already explained something,
  asking the tutee to put the answer in his or her
  own words assures you that the tutee grasps the
  material.

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• Be sure to summarize the session before ending
  it.
• Highlight what was achieved and what you expect
  your tutee to accomplish before your next session.

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The Art of Being a Student

• Tutors help tutees master the subject area they
  are tutoring, but they can also help tutees
  become better students.

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• Remind your tutee to attend classes because
• you cannot learn if you are not there
• each class you miss makes it easier to miss
  another
• professors usually take a large percent of their
  test questions from their class lectures.

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• Remind your tutee to
• follow the directions for every assignment
• turn in assignments on their due dates
• get to know teachers and other classmates
• read all handouts carefully, especially the
  syllabus.

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• Remind your tutee that many teachers
• grade an assignment on its content as
• well as its appearance,
• i.e., typing,
• spelling,
• punctuation,
• and grammar.

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Co-dependency A Vicious Cycle for Tutors
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Caretaker The Tutor As Rescuer

• Feels needed at first
• Believes the tutee cannot do without his/her
  tutoring
• Feels a great deal of responsibility for the
  tutee and feels discomfort for the tutees
  problems
• Feels anxiety because he/she might fail the tutee

This may lead to
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Persecuted The Tutor as Martyr

• Resents being asked to do work which is not the
  tutors responsibility and resents the tutee
• Gets angry at the tutees for not taking his/her
  good advice
• Feels the tutee does not truly appreciate the
  sacrifices made by the tutor the tutor ignores
  his/her own needs
• Resents being thought of as incompetent and
  becomes angry at the tutee

This may lead to
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Victim The Tutor as Victim

• Often feels that he/she gives more than she/she
  receives from the tutee
• Attempts to save new tutees, taking part in
  his/her own victimization
• Continues the vicious cycle by returning to the
  caretaker role time and time again to regain
  battered self-esteem and satisfy codependent
  desire to be needed.

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Appropriate Tutor Responses

• Encourage tutee independence.
• Practice assertiveness.
• Trust your own perceptions.
• Maintain a professional attitude.
• Refuse to accept responsibility or credit for the
  tutees behaviors.

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Friendly Warning!

• Some tutees dont want helpthey want you to do
  whatever needs to be done with minimal exertion
  on their part.
• They may complain to you and about you, but dont
  take it personally.
• Try to keep your sense of humor, and remember
  that for every grumble-grouse who crosses your
  path, there are dozens of fantastic people who
  really appreciate your help and tell you so!

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Tutoring Safely

• At the Academic Support Center, we want your
  tutoring experience to be enjoyable, rewarding,
  and safe. For everyones safety and well-being,
  please observe the following guidelines.

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• Notify the Academic Support Center
• (978-632-6600 ext. 333) about when and where you
  will be meeting your tutee.
• Conduct your tutoring sessions on campus during
  regular hours, either in the Academic Support
  Center or in well-lit, public places on the
  college campus.

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• Wear your name tag when tutoring in the Academic
  Support Center it identifies you as a tutor.
• Always know where an open office, an emergency
  phone, and emergency exits are.
• Learn the emergency assistance telephone number
  111. This line is always open for emergency use
  day and evening.

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• Report to the Director of the Academic Support
  Center, ext. 333, any suspicious, threatening, or
  harassing behavior, or behavior which makes you
  feel uncomfortable (even if it does not
  constitute an emergency), as well as any suicide
  threats or possible incidents of physical or
  sexual abuse of a minor.
• In general, do not give your home telephone
  number or address to tutees. They can leave
  messages for you at the Academic Support Center.

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Referral Skills
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• Peer tutoring sessions can bring with them a wide
  variety of issues.
• Tutees are often comfortable enough in a tutoring
  relationship to ask the tutor advice about any
  number of these issues.
• Thus, as a tutor, you must be knowledgeable about
  the types and locations of campus services
  available to students and how to access those
  services.

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Refer Tutees to Services on Campus If

• You believe a tutee is using tutoring time
  inappropriately, i.e., using tutoring time to
  socialize or discuss personal issues, repeatedly
  coming to tutoring unprepared
• Your tutee is very tense, shy, non-verbal, and
  hard to make eye-contact with, uncommunicative

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• Your tutee exhibits any of the following
• Depression
• general sadness slow moving weepy hopeless or
  very agitated nervous, worriedunable to focus
  on academics
• Anxiety
• agitated unable to focus hyper consistently
  fearful acting startled
• Signs of Substance Abuse
• failing to meet obligation erratic behavior
  inability to function effectively due to drug or
  alcohol intoxication

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How and Where to Refer Tutees

• Discuss a problem situation with the tutor
  supervisor. This way you will not think that
  your tutees problems are your sole
  responsibility.
• Your tutor supervisor might need to intervene to
  insure that the right services are initiated for
  the tutee.

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• Offer information to your tutee on the support
  services available. Keep a list of contact
  persons, phone numbers, and offices available for
  easy access.
• Suggest a particular service to your tutee if
  you think its appropriate, explain its location.
  You can even go with your tutee if he/she so
  desires. However, make sure that the tutee is
  the one who makes the initial phone call or
  contact.

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Important Reminders

• Tutors are not trained psychologists,
  psychiatrists, social workers, health care
  personnel, or counselors.
• Remember not to exceed your role as a peer tutor.
  Always go to the tutor program supervisor if you
  feel that there is an issue that needs attention.

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• Tutors are not expected to solve all problems for
  their tutees. Your primary focus as a tutor
  should be on course work, not on a tutees
  personal problems.
• You may not be successful with every student you
  are assigned to tutor. Try to recognize that no
  amount of tutoring will be enough for some
  students who might bring their issues into the
  tutor sessions.

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• Final Words
• Tutoring is a journey
• that involves teaching
• and learning for both
• you and your tutee.
• Be patient with yourself, ask for help from
  other
• tutors and your supervisor, and most of all
• enjoy yourself.
• Good Luck!