Training Math Tutors
To
Tutor Developmental
Math Students
Pinder Naidu
Kennesaw State University
Association Tutoring Professional
On-Line Workshop
Jan 14 to Feb 12, 2006
Training Tutors 101
• Training tutors to deal with
developmental math students requires a
little more of the following:
–
–
–
–
–
Listening
Questioning
Compassion
Caring and
Encouragement
– Why is it so much more important for
these students?
Training Tutors 101
• Because for many of them this is the first college
class they have taken in long time.
• For others it is their chance to review material
they didn’t get in a previous life, in a prior setting.
• For most math is the one thing that has stopped
them from moving forward.
• A few feel as if they have math anxiety or they
have had a bad experience in a math class which
makes them anxious.
Tutor Training
Tip #1: Smile
• Why?
– Developmental level students lack self confidence and
for them to come and ask a tutor for help is a BIG
DEAL.
– They want help and will ask for it if the tutor smiles.
– Smiling conveys trustworthiness. They need to TRUST
someone.
– A smile also motivates, encourages, conveys integrity and
sincerity.
Tutor Training
Tip #1: Smile
• A smile says many things
– "Welcome" "We're glad you're here.
– We know that you have other choices."
– "I may not know everything, but if I don't, I
will try to find out for you."
Tutor Training
Tip #1: Smiling Contd
• Conveying the importance of smiling
– 1) Have tutors watch a math video and ask what
was it about the lecturer they enjoyed?
• Students usually enjoy someone who cares about
them. How do they know the instructor cares?
They’re smiling!
• That smile is inviting, it means the instructor is
approachable, open to questions.
• The above are the same qualities that students look
for in a tutor. They view the tutor in the same light!
• Scary isn’t it, to be thought of so highly.
Tutor Training
Tip #1: Smiling Contd
– 2) Role Play. Ask one tutor to be the student
and another to be the tutor who doesn’t smile.
Add smiling. Discuss reactions as a group.
• Again, it is important for the tutors to understand
how they appear to students is a factor in their being
asked for help. Are you Grumpy or Happy?
• Who wants to ask someone for help if they look like
they don’t want to help you?
• SMILE!
Tutor Training
Tip #1: Smiling Contd
– 3) Tape your tutors tutoring and watch the video. Ask
them who would they ask for help?
• Taping tutors is a great way of being reflective. This helps
the tutors see how they look to students walking in the lab.
• Reflection is a great teacher and viewing one’s behaviors
can lead to change.
• Sometimes a tutor may have a pressing issue and doesn’t
realize that he/she is sharing it to the world via the look
on their face.
Tutor Training
Tip #2: Listening
• Listening is an art and skill, which means it has to
be practiced.
• Tutors that listen first are more effective
because they will hear what the student really
needs, than what they think the student needs.
• Plus, one knows that the student will really try to
get the tutor to do the work for them.
•
Tutor Training
Tip #2: Listening Contd
• A favorite training idea is playing the
‘telephone” game.
• Remember that one?
– Break up the tutors into groups of 4 or 5. Send
the groups out, except for one person.
Tutor Training
Tip #2: Listening Contd
– Give the first tutor a story to tell to the next tutor
that walks in the room.
– The next tutor has to repeat the story to the next one
in the group and so on
– At the end of the groups ask the last tutor to repeat
the story.
– There are lots of laughs as the story gets re-told.
Were they really listening? It’s not as easy as one might
think!
Tutor Training
Tip #2: Listening Contd
• On a more serious
note
– Role Playing is great.
– Give the tutor a
situation where a
student walks in and
asks a question, such as
“How do I do this
question (say solving an
equation for a specific
variable)?”
– Ask the tutor if they are
listening to the student or
are they already to jump in
and do the problem?
Tutor Training
Tip #2: Listening Contd
• 9 times out of 10 tutors
are already formulating an
answer without really
listening to the question.
• This shows the students
that the tutor is listening
and wants to help. It also
clarifies the “want”.
• Get tutors to repeat the
question to the students.
• Which off course leads us
to the next important
training tip.
– “You want to solve this
equation for this
variable?”
• QUESTIONING!
Tutor Training
Tip #3: Questioning
• Why is questioning so important?
– Developmental students are not always sure of the
question.
– Probing helps to determine the exact nature and
understanding of the problem.
• Questioning takes practice. Tutors want to solve
problems, so……..
Tutor Training
Tip #3: Questioning
• Have tutors practice with each other answering
with a question.
– For example:
– Student, “I want to solve this equation for X”
– Tutor, “ What do you think we should first?”
– Wait for the response!
– It takes time for some developmental students to
process.
– Also, the tutor will soon know IF the student knows what
to do next OR needs further questioning.
– Make no assumptions about their math knowledge.
Tutor Training
Tip #3: Questioning
• Let’s see how far this could go….
– You play the part of the student
• Student: I’m not sure what to do next?
• Tutor: Let’s look at your notes. What did your instructor
do?
• Student: I’m not sure. I think I’m solving for ‘X’
• Tutor: Ok, can you explain your notes to me?
• Student: It looks like I have to get this number over
here?
• Tutor: Yes, very good! Now what? ……
Tutor Training
Tip #3: Questioning
• Student: Then all the terms with ‘X’ disappeared.
• Tutor: What did she do with them? What is that
called?
• Student: I don’t know.
• Tutor: She combined like terms. So, where did the
18X come from?
• Student: Oh, I see, she added them together.
• Tutor: Very good. Now let’s look at your problem
again and you try to do the same thing.
• Off course your tutors will want to do the problem
and move on! BUT notice the questioning and praise!
Tutor Training
Tip #3: Questioning Contd
• Let the student lead.
• Ask to see the instructors notes.
– Developmental students need to do problems in a similar
manner as their instructors.
– Remember the majority are learning this for the first
time. They will get confused by many methods.
– Check for understanding by asking them to re-explain
the problem back to you. Re-explaining is KEY because
one can access whether or not the student gets it!
• Above all be PATIENT!
Tutor Training
Tip #3: Summarizing Questioning
• Let’s go over this one more time. What have we
learned?
– When developmental math students ask for help they
may not know what to ask.
– The tutor’s job is to employ questioning to find out if
the student don’t know process or if they don’t
understand the concept.
– Sometimes it can take a lot of questions before the
tutor can identify the underlying cause.
Tutor Training
Tip #3: Summarizing Questioning
• Be sure to always follow the instructor’s
methodologies.
• Don’t say “Oh this way is easier”. Not to the
developmental student it’s not!
• Tutor’s can adapt to methodologies much faster
than the student can.
• Finally, let the student lead you, the tutor.
– Remember to smile and the world smiles with you!
Tutor Training Tip #4: Practicing
Compassion and Empathy
• Developmental students do not need to feel
stupid.
• Tutors should NOT say “Here, this is really easy”
• Tutors should not criticize
– The instructor.
– The Book
– To use or not use the calculator
• So, can we know what it feels like to feel
inadequate at a task? Read on…………….
Tutor Training Tip #4: Practicing
Compassion and Empathy
• Training for empathy.
– This is a fun activity
– Pair tutors up. Have the blindfolded tutor complete a task,
relying solely on directions from someone else.
– Most math tutors are experts at math, which makes
tutoring developmental math students a little more
challenging! Right?!
– So, how does it feel to ask for help. Are you floundering
yet?
Tutor Training Tip #4:
Practicing Compassion and
Empathy
– Ok, so everyone was floundering. We can
discuss how it feels to rely on someone. Did it
make the tutors feel stupid?
• Usually the need to lean on someone causes anxiety.
• It is the loss of control.
• Most developmental students are adults who are used
to giving themselves and others directions and are
not comfortable in asking for help.
Tutor Training Tip #5:
Encouragement and Caring
• How many directions did you need to complete
your task?
• What else was going on? Was there cheering and
encouragement? I bet there was!
• Developmental students need their own cheering
squad.
– Being blindfold helps to indicate the importance of
encouragement and caring too, since the tutors will be yelling
encouragement, as well as directions, at the same time.
– Remember, these students need praise for the successful
completion of a problem/task.
Tutoring things to
think about.
• Success is the only
genuine motivator and
must be experienced,
especially by
developmental math
students.
• Basics must be
mastered in order to
think about the
material.
• The pencil should
remain in the students
hands.
• The real sign of
learning is not that
students make
mistakes, but that
they can find and
correct them alone.