My experiences of tutoring have been mixed, to put it lightly. I have met students with all kinds of attitudes towards learning and so I have experienced the very best, and the worst, of tutorials. I have had students miss tutorials, turn up terribly late, or not even seem to listen. In spite of this, one thing I know for sure is that for every student who didn’t seem interested, or who was perhaps a little less enthusiastic than I would have hoped, there are many more who really do want to learn, and who make my job of tutoring worthwhile.
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So if you’re a tutor and your experiences of tutoring aren’t yet what you hoped they would be, read this and find out why it’s always worth it in the end.
As I’ve already mentioned, I had had a few rather difficult experiences tutoring and, to be honest, I thought about taking a break for a while. And then a few months ago I had an email from a parent wanting me to tutor her son who had dyslexia. He was someone to whom English GCSE didn’t come naturally, but he was willing to try hard and put in the hours to do well – even if it meant doing boring things like memorising spellings or word definitions, or doing extra homework. MyTutorWeb’s state-of-the-art virtual classroom allows for Skype-like communication. This means that the student and tutor really get to know each other and, with our weekly interaction, I quickly became very fond of this student; so much so that I thought about him outside of tutoring hours – I actually went out of my way to interview a dyslexic friend at university to find out how I could improve my teaching methods.
The best thing about tutoring this particular child was not the steady flow of income or regular work MyTutor advertises – it was seeing him change and grow not only in skill but in confidence; when he no longer spelt certain words incorrectly or panicked at particular questions. I looked forward to seeing him each week, and when his exam finally came around I had the satisfaction of knowing that, provided he kept calm and did his best, he would pass, no worries. I felt so fond and proud of this pupil that gradually my faith in, and love of, tutoring was restored.
Let’s face it, tutoring isn’t always plain sailing. But it’s worth all the bumps to find those students who really do want to learn, are pleased to see you when you pop up on their monitor each week, and who value you for the change you’ve made in their lives.
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Written by Katya Sikuade