The second student I was booked to cover for also didn’t show up, and I did a second observation, learning different things from watching a different tutor. I am still quite new to tutoring at first education, as this was supposed to be the second time I tutored someone, so I found that having this observation was really useful. I sat in on another high school Maths Tutoring lesson, and they were learning financial maths.

Through watching in on this tutoring lesson, I learned that it can be important to challenge the student when they are capable of going further. For example, asking them to do it without a calculator, or to use a different method to figure out the question. Challenging the student can also come in the form of allowing them to figure out their own mistakes and questioning if they know what they did wrong. By watching the session, I learnt that allowing the student to spot and correct their own mistakes is crucial for their learning development as it means that they are starting to understand it.

Another thing I picked up during the tutoring session was that sometimes it is ok to take a small break. About halfway through the lesson, when the student started to become unfocused and restless, they took a 5 minute uno break. During the break, his concentration started to pick up again as he was engaged in a fun activity. I also noticed that after the break, when they got back to the lesson, he was more focused and ready to learn.

Altogether, through watching the lesson, I was able to learn about challenging the student and the importance of taking a break if the student needs one. This will be able to help me with tutoring in the future.

Katreen Diab