I was able to observe Toby's Chemistry session today. While I personally, don't take chemistry, I appreciated Toby's approach to explaining such complex concepts to his student. The student became a bit hesitant and unsure at one point in the session in regards to a concept within a practice paper. I appreciated the way Toby was able to step in and break down the concept in a way the student was able to understand. In particular, I really admired the way he turned this learning opportunity into more of a discussion, leading the student to the answer without explicitly telling him what to think or do. He built upon what the student already knew about the topic, encouraging him to problem solve and use his intuition to take many educated guess (or not guesses per se) which lead the student to the answer himself. I also think the success of this discussion strategy is attributable to the students familiarity with Toby.
Their established rapport appeared to make the student more willing to engage in the discussion, take guesses and work through his uncertainty without being afraid of getting the answer wrong. he also demonstrated a strong understanding of the students abilities and knew when to provide support and when to allow them to work through the question independently. Overall, it was a great session to observe. Good job Toby !
