Today I had the opportunity to observe Daniella tutor her year 7 student in maths.

They were working through integers and specifically focusing on order of operations, multiplication, division and worded problem solving. Daniella is an excellent tutor at building rapport within her sessions as she consistently maintains a positive attitude and is always checking in on her students to see how they are progressing. Her ability to direct the lesson is an indicator of her great leadership and sense of direction when teaching. Another thing that Daniella is great at is making good use of the white board. Coupled with this, she has very neat handwriting, a trait which is invaluable when tutoring others and makes it much easier for students to focus and follow along.

Daniella is an actively engaged tutor who explains specific concepts extremely well. I commend her for acknowledging her own mistakes, something that can be difficult for tutors but nonetheless a trait that is highly mature and human. As tutors we must know when to acknowledge our own mistakes and feel comfortable making errors in front of our students. Ultimately, we are all human beings and can expect to make errors from time to time, but it is our responsibility to refrain from acting with ego, impulse, and pride.

Another important note was how well Daniella’s student was engaged considering it was the last lesson of the term. Students may often lack the desire or motivation to work due to upcoming holidays, but Daniella’s presence ensured the work was done in a timely manner. Her student’s engagement was apparent as they completed work ahead of schedule.

Overall this was a great lesson to observe. Daniella maintains the perfect balance of professionalism along with friendliness. This polarity is highly appealing to students and is something that all tutors should strive to achieve within their own lessons. Well done Daniella.

James Petrakis