Today, I had the opportunity to observe Eric and his Year 6 student Ali.

I was immediately struck by the good rapport that Eric had clearly built with his student. Ali was respectful of his tutor but still felt comfortable to share an update on his week with Eric. From my own experience, it is sometimes difficult to get kids who like to talk to redirect back to working. Eric expertly navigated this challenge and seamlessly transitioned to teaching the content planned for this session, which was long division.

It was clear to me that Eric knew his student’s baseline and was able to teach the content at a level appropriate to the student’s existing level of understanding. Being able to adapt your lesson plan or content to the student’s level is a key skill needed in tutoring, and vital to ensuring that the student is actually learning and understanding what you are trying to explain to them. Sometimes when this doesn’t work it can be frustrating for us as tutors but it’s important to remember that the student’s learning is what matters most, so it’s up to us to pivot and try explaining things in a different way or with different examples.

At times Ali got a little distracted, but Eric also did a great job of helping his student to refocus when this happened. He was able to positively reinforce the student’s good behaviour, and gave positive feedback when the student got questions correct, which clearly motivated the student to maintain his good behaviour. Overall this was a very positive session for me to observe as I learnt a lot. I will definitely be implementing the strategies Eric used in his session, such as adapting your teaching to the student’s level, and using redirection strategies, in my own future sessions. Thank you for letting me observe!

Dimitra Anthony