We’ve all been guilty of sitting in a classroom or a tutoring session, being taught a foreign concept, and pretending to understand every word being said. And while this is an incredibly understandable part of the learning experience, tutoring sessions should never end with a child walking out only partly understanding a concept, if at all. I have noticed many times that when you ask a student “does that make sense”, oftentimes they will smile slowly and nod their head “yes?” Clearly the concept requires further understanding. However, some students shy away from admitting that they are lost or stuck on a certain piece of information which is why I enjoy employing the ‘teach me’ method.

The ‘teach me’ method is one which my tutors used for me during my time as a student as I struggled to voice that I didn’t understand something. Instead, my first tutor decided to swap our student-tutor roles, and asked me to explain to her how to simplify a fraction or analyse a quote. If I skirted around the edges of an explanation or drew incorrect conclusions, she knew exactly what to fix. This method was incredibly helpful to a student who, despite not being shy, shied away from admitting her weaknesses.

Now as a tutor, I see how powerful that method of tutoring is. As a tutor, my students range from Year 1 to Year 11, their subjects including English, Maths, Science, and Modern History. Within such a large scope of students, each one is vastly unique and requires a different tutoring style. However, no matter what the subject or who the student is, the ‘teach me’ method has helped both student and tutor out on numerous occasions.

For example, recently I tutored a year 9 maths student on angles which can be a tricky topic to grasp at first. However, I kept assigning her more questions until she was able to complete them quickly, correctly, and (most importantly) with confidence, and until she stood at the whiteboard and explained the concepts to me flawlessly, with true understanding – a student who is now ready for any exam question and for further applications of the content.

The ‘teach me’ method may sometimes be confronting to students which is why it’s important to ease the students into the content first before testing their knowledge in a way in which it has never been tested before. But with the correct application of this incredible method, each student can walk out of their tutoring session and be confident that they mastered a new concept in an hour.

Shahaf Liraz