Today, I observed Nicholas tutor his year 12 Biology student. Today they were looking at a sample paper with various topics.

Throughout the lesson, Nicholas was very intentional with his explanations and clarified the distinction between similar concepts that his student got confused between. He pointed out key differences to make it easier to identify which idea was being presented.

He asked his student many thought-provoking questions, to test his understanding and ensure he would remember which methods are appropriate to use for different kinds of questions. In addition, he continually checked in with his student to make sure he was on track with completing the assigned work for the lesson. This also ensured the student was constantly engaged and tuning in to his explanations.

Overall, I really liked how Nicholas was relatively quiet and allowed his student ample time to work on questions uninterrupted before offering help. This strategy prompted the student to attempt difficult questions by himself without immediately giving up, and I plan to use this in future sessions. All in all, this was a great lesson to observe and I learnt a lot.

Katherine Mavrolefteros