5 Tips for Structuring a Tutoring Session

Tutoring is fun. You’ll be instrumental in harnessing a student’s cognitive capabilities, helping them develop into productive members of society. Unfortunately, tutoring sessions don’t come in a one-size-fits-all formula. What works for one student might not with another.
And that’s why tutors must structure their sessions to bring out the best in each learner. But how do you do that? Consider these five tips for structuring your tutoring session.

1. Break the ice.

Starting with a straightforward setting of objectives and expectations might scare your learner. It could spike their anxiety level and make succeeding tutoring sessions more tense. You must deal with first day jitters if you want a more successful tutoring session.
Get to know more about your learner. Share a funny story or a valuable anecdote. What do they aspire to? How about their dreams? Do they play games? If so, what kind? What do they enjoy doing the most? Learning goals?
Your objective here is to make the learner feel at ease. You’ll want the student to be eager about future tutoring sessions.

2. Prepare fun exercises.

Breaking the ice sets the tone for a meaningful and productive tutor-learner relationship. It establishes trust and builds confidence. However, it doesn’t gauge the student’s subject matter knowledge. Learning activities will do the trick.
Most tutors administer a short quiz. But you can also elicit information about a learner’s knowledge by asking fun subject-related questions. Make the activity casual to avoid throwing the student off-balance.
Please understand that evaluating a learner’s cognitive aptitude requires more than a single tutoring session. However, the first day of tutoring must only include one or two exercises.

3. Ask for feedback.

Was the exercise too easy or too challenging? How can you improve your future learning activities? The responses you get for these riddles will determine how you structure the tutoring sessions. Unfortunately, you cannot do it alone.
Asking for feedback from a learner might seem counterintuitive. After all, you’re the more experienced and knowledgeable. However, it’s worth pointing out that learners are different, including diverse perspectives and beliefs.
You might think the learning activity is appropriate for the student’s level. However, the learner might disagree. Ask your student for honest feedback and explain that their response will help you customize the tutoring sessions.

4. Do the learning activities together.

Learning activities allow students to organize, retain, and integrate key principles of a body of knowledge. Performing these learning activities with your student can increase the achievement of such goals.
Avoid making it a competition, though. Your goal is to help the learner feel at ease doing the learning activities. Seeing you do the same task as them accomplishes that. It also strengthens the tutor-learner bond.

5. Work together to establish learning goals.

Gone are the days when a teacher dictates what students must learn. Now, learners take the driver’s seat. However, given your subject matter competence, your task is to guide the student in setting meaningful learning goals.
This trick also helps prepare the learner for the future. It allows them to appreciate the value of planning and objective setting, giving them a clear path to their dreams.
These tips should help you structure a learner-centered tutoring session. Building and strengthening the tutor-learner relationship remains a must throughout the interaction.

References

https://studentsupportaccelerator.com/tutoring/instruction/session-structure/example-tutoring-session-structure
https://atutor.ca/tutoring-session/
https://tutorcruncher.com/starting-tutor-business/how-to-structure-a-tutoring-session/
https://practice.do/blog/how-to-structure-a-tutoring-session

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