I had the opportunity to observe Ava’s session today ! At the start, she took a few minutes to check in with the student, asking about their holidays and how they were feeling about the new school year. This helped re-establish rapport and set a positive, comfortable tone for the lesson which I think is particularly important when starting the new term after such a long break.

I also really liked the way she began by reviewing key concepts from last year to first identify any gaps or weaknesses in the students’ understanding that needed to be addressed before diving into new work. Rather than assuming the student remembered everything, Ava asked more open-ended questions to gauge how they were feeling about the content. Once Ava went over the concepts that were weaker, she effectively built upon this foundation to branch into the content that the student was currently covering in class.

Ava made a great effort to validate the student’s thought process, even when corrections were needed or her logic was slightly flawed. Instead of simply pointing out the mistakes, Ava prompted the student with guiding questions or alternate ways of thinking to help them refine their ideas. This approach not only reinforced the student’s understanding but also built the student’s confidence in their own problem-solving abilities and allowed them to think more critically about the subject matter.

After each new idea that was introduced, Ava made sure to summarise it and reinforce the key take-aways to ensure the student grasped the most important parts of the lesson. Overall, Ava did a fantastic job at easing the student back into the tutoring mindset ! Great job !

Annaliese Lakis