6 Skills Your Tutor Needs

By Allie Mitchell on February 21, 2017

There will always be students in college that can breeze through four years with no problems whatsoever. They sit in class and take notes (or do not take notes) and go home and soak up all the information in a short amount of time and make an awesome grade on the test.

There are also students that are the opposite — the ones that sit in class and take notes or record the lectures but can never seem to achieve the grade that they want. Those students may even start studying weeks in advance but still get caught in receiving the same grade or even lower and they just can’t understand why. This could be due to many issues, such as needed improvement in note taking, studying the wrong things, or over studying (yes, this is a real thing), along with many other issues.

Sometimes, the best thing for students is to seek help outside of their circle of friends. Some students feel like reaching out for help will make them feel stupid and like they can’t do things on their own and that is not it at all. Seeking help could honestly be the best thing that can happen to you.

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Tutors are there to provide you with assistance when you ask for it. Whether or not you are going to tutoring on your own or someone suggested you go, you are honestly making a good decision for yourself at the end of the day. Tutors are there to provide you with the resources you need when trying to improve yourself in the classroom. They are there to have patience and help you learn the way that works best for you and even to help you find out exactly where your issues lie. They are there to be your guide and your friend, but after you have decided that a tutor is what you need, how do you go about choosing one?

The key is to not just pick a tutor out of nowhere and hope for the best. You want the best possible tutor for your specific needs.

1. Knowledge: When picking a potential tutor you want to make sure that they have complete understanding of the material that you are seeking help in. There is no need to get stuck with someone who doesn’t know what differentials are when you are hoping to get help in calculus. It just doesn’t make sense. Be sure to look into your potential tutors and their background in that subject that you seek help in.

2. Teaching: What if the tutor is quite excellent in the subject, but they don’t know how to teach you, specifically? Some people are stuck in their ways on how they do things and how it works for them. There is nothing really wrong with that, except that being a tutor means that you will have to adapt to your potential students and sometimes people can’t do that. It would be time to find a new tutor at that point. There is nothing wrong with you; you just need to find someone that understands how you learn and uses that to their advantage.

3. Persistence: You are looking for a tutor, but you are also looking for a sort of cheerleader as well. You want someone that is going to be there for you on the sidelines as you do your practice tests while they watch and wait. You want someone in your corner. Some tutors can teach you and then push you off by yourself. A great tutor will push you, but still be behind you every step of the way. They want you to succeed and them wanting you to succeed makes you want to succeed all by yourself.

4. Morality: You want someone who understands the meaning of being a tutor is to help you academically. This isn’t the time for romance or love. It is the time for work and commitment. No foul play.

5. Maturity: Your tutor doesn’t have to be an adult, but you want someone who knows what they are there for and that is to help you. You don’t want your tutor to act younger than they are to try to “relate” to you. You are there to learn and to improve yourself, not to make a buddy — although, you can be friends to a point.

6. Easiness: This doesn’t mean your tutor makes it easy for you but that they make you feel comfortable in the tutoring setting. Your tutor makes you want to learn and speaks to you about where you need help and the areas where you feel strong.

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