Keeping your lessons Interactive
Written by Daphne Lim - Updated
Tutoring isn't a lecture.
Your role isn't to just speak without pauses, nonstop until your student falls asleep (like many of us have done during uni lectures, no doubt).
You need to engage your student, personalise your teaching and do things that will really help them. Here are some easy examples that you 100% should incorporate into your lessons:
1. Give the student some questions
If you've got some questions, or found some relevant questions in the KIS resources, give them to your student so they can work through them, and correct those questions one by one during class time. This is a great way to actually apply knowledge and see if your student understand the concepts.
2. Ask the student to cover up their notes and explain a concept back to you in their own words
Let's say you've just explained a long process to your student, e.g. how DNA is used to make a protein. A great way to consolidate this content is to ask the student to cover up their notes, keep their eyes on the camera and explain the process back to you in their own words.
3. Ask the student to walk you through an answer step by step
Let's say you've just gotten the student to do a tough math question - maybe they got it wrong, or maybe they got it right - regardless, a great way to make sure they have a good grasp of foundational concepts is to ask them to take you through their working or explain it step by step.
4. Give your student hints when they struggle, and only hold their hand if they really need
Let's say your student brings you a tough question. It's tempting to just take the question and just answer it for them and show them how you did it.
Instead of doing this, just help the student along, one step at a time. It could be frustrating for the student, but provide them with encouragement and support, and with a few little nudges and helpful hints, odds are they'll be able to work out the question for themselves!
If you're still struggling, feel free to shoot a message into #help channel on Slack or your State Channel to ask other tutors for more tips and tricks!
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