My students range from grades 3 through to grade 12 (and up to fourth year University/College). Each student is tutored individually between 1-3 hours a week. Most of my students are ESL and have been in Canada for no more than 10 years (most from South Korea). 'Tutoring with Taylor' consists of a blend of English/ESL, literacy skills, conversational skill building, academic skill building, and a meta-cognitive approach to understanding and guiding their own academic paths. Currently I have 18 students a week each with a unique set of units designed for the summer.
I have been looking forward to publishing a series of blog posts dedicated to my adventures with tutoring these students and this academic material. I have been enlightened and exposed to a new adventure of education and learning that has positively influenced my teaching philosophy.
One of my students has been writing a novel as part of our tutoring experience. We have been frequently discussing the concept of time and how there never seems to be enough of it. We began to pull that idea apart to discover what exactly the characters in his book (and us in reflection) are experiencing when they "do not have enough time". We are calling it our 'tyranny of time dilemma'. His character is struggling with not having enough time in each day to be as lazy as she wants, and as productive as she wants. I can certainly relate to that.
I am a big believer in effective and mindful time management. I have have worked time management skill building into my tutoring lessons with each student. I have found that the quality of homework has increased because students are actively planning time to complete homework AND to edit the work before submission.
I try as best I can to 'practice what I preach' and set time aside for writing (anything other than my thesis) and for being creative (taking photos or blogging). I am hoping to use blogging & photography as a component of my reflective teaching practice while continuing on this tutoring journey.
Here is a photo of a storm rolling across Brock University two days ago as I sat in the library and began to write this post on May 27, 2015. Posted on my twitter page.
One of my students has been writing a novel as part of our tutoring experience. We have been frequently discussing the concept of time and how there never seems to be enough of it. We began to pull that idea apart to discover what exactly the characters in his book (and us in reflection) are experiencing when they "do not have enough time". We are calling it our 'tyranny of time dilemma'. His character is struggling with not having enough time in each day to be as lazy as she wants, and as productive as she wants. I can certainly relate to that.
I am a big believer in effective and mindful time management. I have have worked time management skill building into my tutoring lessons with each student. I have found that the quality of homework has increased because students are actively planning time to complete homework AND to edit the work before submission.
I try as best I can to 'practice what I preach' and set time aside for writing (anything other than my thesis) and for being creative (taking photos or blogging). I am hoping to use blogging & photography as a component of my reflective teaching practice while continuing on this tutoring journey.
Here is a photo of a storm rolling across Brock University two days ago as I sat in the library and began to write this post on May 27, 2015. Posted on my twitter page.
Tutoring is certainly a blessing for student as it helps them to get over the nervousness before the exams or test and ensure the better performance.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thought on tutoring and its effectiveness.