Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Connecting students to tutors

Students improve faster when they feel connected to their tutor. MyPrivateTutor.com makes that connection their first priority when matching students with tutors

When a person needs help with something, they often ask someone they trust and respect. The key to effectively getting the needed help is often tied to the level of trust, respect, and comfort between the two parties. This also applies to students learning their academic subjects.

Students Often Need Connection to Succeed

In school, students do not get any choice as to who their teachers are, so they have to deal with whatever personality or teaching style issues they may have in their classes. Students may feel intimidated or bored by the teacher during class, which makes them less likely to want to ask that teacher for help. What a struggling student needs is someone he can connect with and trust, and someone with whom she feels comfortable making a mistake.

Tutors Can Provide Necessary Connection

The same can be true for tutoring. If the student does not like the tutor or does not connect with her in some way, then those one hour sessions can be very very long. Parents can force attendance at tutoring sessions, but they cannot force progress. In tutoring, it is so important to make sure the match with the tutor is a good one. The great thing about tutoring is that parents and students are in control of the match, unlike in school.

Tutors Reach for ӀMentoring RelationshipԀ

This is not to say that the tutor and student should be best buddies. The healthy tutor relationship is more like that of a respected uncle or sibling who is 10 years older. There is a respect and a connection, and the student feels safe making mistakes and fixing them in front of the tutor. The student also may feel like he can talk to the tutor about fears and current issues the student faces. In effect, what the tutor is building is a mentoring relationship with the student that can go far beyond the subjects being tutored. This bond between the tutor and the student is what fuels the improvement, and jump starts the student to success.

We Take the Match Seriously

At MyPrivateTutor.com, we take great care in matching students with tutors. It starts with hiring only the best, most experienced tutors who have a record of positive interactions with students. We factor in personality traits, learning styles, gender, age and knowledge and teaching ability. We offer a free consultation, where we learn more about the studentҀs unique needs, and then we tailor the tutor and tutoring plan to those needs. The results are striking.

Tutoring with Connection Works

At MyPrivateTutor.com , we have seen many students jump started by a good match. For instance, a five minute conversation about basketball may pave the way for 55 minutes of intense geometry, where the student Ӏgets itԀ for the first time. At first glance, a parent might see that five minutes as a waste of time, but it may have been the trigger that engaged the student emotionally. With young people, motivation is so important, and the ability to motivate often comes from the connection between two people.

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