NHS Peer Tutoring

Essentially four (4) types of tutorials:

1. Classroom Tutoring

2. Course-Specific Tutoring

3. Standing Appointments

4. Drop-Ins or “As Needed”

… ideally, you would offer tutoring in all of these areas…

1. Classroom Tutoring

– These are prearranged with a teacher of a magnet level, core course such as Math, Science, English & Social Studies

– During these sessions, you’ll be assisting the teacher in providing focused skill practice during class time

– These can take during your lunch period

2. Content Specific Tutoring

• These are also arranged in advance with a teacher of a course to take place either before or after school, or even during your lunch impacting a limited number of students

• This year, the faculty advisors have decided to set the limit of hours these can be completed with any specific instructor at three hours

3. Standing AppointmentsThese are three or more meetings with the same student

– The Homework Café is an ideal location to host these 3-4 M-Th

– Focus on developing academic skills (time management, organization, self-advocacy, & study skills)

– Can also include time to work through current assignments

– These students have often be recommended to attend regular tutoring by his or her counselor

Standing Appointments:• These meetings will divide your time between are going to be focused on

skill-building and developing academic "grittiness" or perseverance as well as course-specific work

• Build a relationship, spend a little time asking them how he or she is adjusting to HS (like what does he or she like, wish was different, etcetera)

• Ask him or her about how classes are going -what's going well, what not-so-well

• You may need to tutor students in basic academic skills like how to self-monitor grades, how to ask a teacher for help, how or if there's a way to recover credit, and of course how does he or she keep track of assignments.

• This may be a good time to share what works for you or struggles you've had and overcome.

Students Recommended for Tutoring

• These are students who have been recommended to attend tutoring by their counselor or teacher

• You can find this list on the Google Drive on a document titled, “Peer Tutoring Tracking”

• You’ll be escorting the student to the Homework Café to work with him or her to strengthen his or her academic skills

How to Proceed:• Escort the student from his or her 8th period to the Homework

Café

• Next to each students’ name is the classroom number of his or her 8th period; during the last 2-3 minutes of 8th, go to the room listed, politely excuse the interruption and ask for the student.

• Explain that he or she has being identified for peer tutoring because their counselor and teachers see that he or she is struggling to meet his or her academic potential. Emphasize that they’re not in trouble; tutoring will only strength the skills they already possess

• Ask if they’d be willing to join you in Homework Café to talk about some strategies he or she could use to improve academically

4. Drop-Ins or Tutoring “As Needed”

Like standing appointments, these sessions can take place in the Homework Café

– These are students who have self-identified a need for tutoring

– Should be at least an academic year behind you in school

– Comprised of single sessions, or several appointments over a long period of time that lack the regular and routine meetings of a standing relationship

Drop-Ins or “As Needed”• It’s suggested you begin by asking a student what he or she needs

help with– It will probably be a specific assignment or skill, such as an essay or balancing equations

• If you and the student feel comfortable doing this, ask him or her to pull up grades– This might be a good indicator of how he or she is really doing (missing

homework or not doing well on quizzes-two different issues requiring a different approach)

– You can plan how to approach the rest of the session together to reach a desired goal

How to Begin a Drop-In Session in the HW Café:• When a student approaches the NHS Peer Tutoring Station, ask him or

her to sign in– Note if he or she has been identified by his or her counselor to attend regular

tutoring– if so, then proceed to beginning a new standing session.

• Login and open the Google Form named “NHS Peer Tutoring Session” by starting a new a “Tutorial Log”– After getting the basics out of the way, set a goal together for the session

– At the end of the session, reflect on what was accomplished and if the goal you both set was met

– Ask the student if he or she would like to meet with you again or set up a standing appointment

The Studying Equation• There are a number of factors to consider when a student asks you

for help with studying:– What are the known variables?

– Subject, topic, skills to be mastered

– What could be unknown factors? Such as does the student

– have missing or incomplete homework assignments or even,

– fail to record upcoming assignments and therefore doesn’t always know when a test or quiz is coming

….these are good questions to ask to help get to the heart of the problem.

• Also consider, does the student know how to study?

• Share study skills that have worked for you; practice some of these with the student

Make sure the student is in control

• Your role is to facilitate by asking questions to guide the student to understand more about how he or she is organizing, processing and outputting information

• He or she should be in charge of any revisions, practice problems, equations, studying or whatever you decide you’ll be focusing on during an individual session

Tips for Student-Centered Sessions:

1. If there’s a written assignment, ask to see the rubric (if a paper copy isn’t available, check and see if it’s posted somewhere on the internet or on the Student Portal

2. Ask him or her to read aloud any written response, asking clarifying questions as needed

3. For math and science, ask the student to take out all of his or her relevant notes relating to the topic (including practice problems and previous quizzes)

4. Never take the pen from him or her– all corrections should be made in his or her own handwriting.

Construct Goals

Start each session by setting a specific learning goal

• Instead of trying to study all of the information, focus on a few key concepts or skills. For example, memorizing how to use a specific chemical equation or how a certain country was established.

• Crossing off study goals will help your student to create a reliable and organized process of studying to help tackle the bigger key concepts on his or her own.  

How much do we retain?

• 10% of what we hear

• 15% of what we read

• 20% of what we see and hear

• 40% of what we discuss

• 80% of what we experience and practice

• 90% of what we attempt to teach

Tutoring is a Win-Win Situation

If you can teach it, you know it!• Tutors have a certain advantage over their peers.

When the brain needs to turn its gears and teach, it formats information in a more logical way in order to convey it back to an audience.

• Meanwhile, students who have to learn and process information process for themselves receive it and don’t force themselves to enforce logic into the learning.

1. Always read math problems completely before beginning any calculations. If you "glance" too quickly at a problem, you may misunderstand what really needs to be done to complete the problem.

2. Whenever possible, draw a diagram. Even though you may be able to visualize the situation mentally, a hand drawn diagram will allow you to label the picture, to add auxiliary lines, and to view the situation from different perspectives.

3. Know your calculator! If you must borrow a calculator from your teacher, be sure that you have used that "brand" of calculator on previous occasions. If you are not familiar with how a particular calculator works, your calculations may be incorrect.

4. If you know that your answer to a question is incorrect, and you cannot find your mistake, start over on a clean piece of paper. Oftentimes when you try to correct a problem, you continually overlook the mistake. Starting over on a clean piece of paper will let you focus on the question, not on trying to find the error.

Tips for Studying for Math