I am new to tutoring and I have learned many things during my start. I have learned that different students need different types of teaching and different ways to grasp topics fully. It is generally important, for all students, to make sure they are confident in what they are learning. Knowing your student is an important aspect of tutoring. Using differentiated instruction, you are able to learn what your student needs and adjust to provide them with tutoring specific to them.
Differentiation is giving students multiple options for absorbing information. As you teach a certain student, you should observe how they respond to your methods and start to understand differences and similarities among students in order to respond to a variety of student needs. This way, you are able to modify the content you teach and the process you teach it to offer them a chance at full understanding. Since every student is different, this process will be different every time you teach. I have learned that when tutoring different students, you have to learn how to tweak your method so it is effective for all of them, since the same method that helps one student understand something might be completely confusing to another student.
An important thing to remember when varying teaching methods is to continue to assess how the student is responding and to make sure that you are always effective in the way you teach. If you use the same method for a student every time you tutoring them, you leave no room to realize if they need an adjustment or if they stop understanding something fully. For example, if a student works really well when they can work out problems with you so they can make sure they follow all of the steps correctly, eventually they will gain a more concrete comprehension of what you’re teaching and they will need you to draw back and let them solve it on their own. It is essential that, as tutors, we are able to see when this happens and know when to let them do things by themselves instead of using you as a crutch.
Also, once the student gains a better grasp on the content, they should be pushed further to challenge their understanding and go deeper into the topic rather than sticking with what the “book” wants them to know. If they expand the range of their knowledge, they will be more confident to do the simpler things.
No two students learn the same way or have the same abilities or needs but they are all working towards the same understanding or goal. They have to reach the same place but the method or path they use to get there might be completely different. It is important that we learn how to send them down the right path by structuring a teaching style suited for each individual student’s needs.