Tutor Tips

Activate prior knowledge.
One of the great things about working with adults is that they come to us with a lifetime of knowledge.  They may have limited English or reading skills, but they still have a world of experience to share.  Find a topic in which the learner knowledgeable or interested.  Get them started thinking about that topic as you begin, maybe by showing them a picture.  This will help engaged them in the lesson immediately because they will be excited to talk about what they know and learn/read the new vocabulary needed.

Good tutoring is repetition without boredom.
Have you ever considered that definition?  It’s true.  People need to do something over and over to become expert or fluent.  Most people learning a language first become fluent in “Hello, how are you?”.  This is because they hear it, say it and see it exchanged 1,000 times a day.  Don’t gauge your learners’ boredom by yours.  They are learning, you aren’t.  To build confidence, improve usage and increase fluency, a learner needs to have repetition!  Have you practiced irregular past tense verbs ten ways?  Then, find an eleventh and a twelfth.

Everyone has heard the adage “less is more”.
This is a guiding principal for tutors especially when using paper lessons or making worksheets.  Put less on a page and make the font bigger.  It’s easier to see and not as overwhelming.  Make multiple pages, if you like, but only hand them out one at a time.  Most people get focused on “finishing” and get caught up in quantity (of work) instead of quality.  It’s easier to engage people if they don’t feel they are competing with time to finish the work.  Number all items so that it’s less confusing to refer to an item.