Mutual Respect
You are responsible for your own weather. If you decide that it's cloudy and rainy inside, that's the attitude that you will affect others with.
One premise upon which we will base all of our behavioral attitudes in tutoring is:
Each of you is responsible for your own behavior. Other people do not change you or your behavior. Once you accept responsibility for your own attitudes and behavior, you may then be able to provide a climate that will encourage consistent positive behavior on the part of the person with whom you are working.
Your behavior and that of the tutee's greatly influences the effectiveness of each tutoring session. It is your responsibility to develop a climate that is understanding and warm as well as task-oriented. Once a good beginning is established, you will assure yourself of a smooth middle and ending of the session.
Preventing problems is the key to tutoring. Discipline is less an issue if the tutor continues to practice and develop the skills listed below:
- Knowing yourself and your attitude towards school will help you better understand others.
- Positive self-concept building is contagious.
- Helping relationships are developed through trust and caring.
- Well developed communication skills help eliminate misunderstandings and encourage positive interaction
Integrating Humor in the Tutoring Session
Shared laughter is a powerful way to reinforce learning. Humor can set students at ease and increase group rapport. Humor can also be used to compliment, to guide or to provide negative feedback in a positive manner. Some of the alleged benefits of humor in a group tutorial session include increased:
- retention of material
- attentiveness and interest
- motivation towards and satisfaction with learning
- playfulness and positive attitude
- individual and group task productivity
- discussion and animation
- creativity, idea generation, and divergent thinking
According to Avern Ziv, an educational humor researcher at Tel Aviv University, humor facilitates the expression of a particular mode of thinking not bound to "right" and conventional answers. Traditional education has been criticized often by many modern educators for its almost exclusive encouragement of the use of convergent thinking. Divergent thinking can certainly be helpful in the educational process in such instances as problem-solving and all types of activities including self-expression.
Not only does humor generate divergent thinking, it can also spark student recall long after the group session is over.
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Learning can become more enjoyable and less stressful in a laughter-filled group. The establishment of a group environment that encourages humor seems to assist in learning the material by lifting social and academic barriers. Humor helps to cultivate personal exploration, discovery, play, and risk-taking because the shared group sense of humor allows for human error.
Laughter following an inevitable error is less traumatic and threatening than a punitive or judgmental response. The willingness of students to be spontaneous and imperfect will result in a dynamic learning environment. A healthy group is a humorous group.
Remember, as the group facilitator you will be setting the tone of the group. If the environment is stuffy and dogmatic, little laughter and divergent thinking will occur. However, if you can make the environment comfortable, flexible, and supportive, the group will cultivate a sense of humor along with a positive learning environment.
Is it necessary to go to comedy school? No, being relaxed, smiling and alert to student needs are good starts to a better sense of humor. The integration of humor into a group session can be a slow process that requires trial and error. Try out jokes and stories ahead of time on family and peers to make sure they are humorous and non-insulting. A "Don Rickles" approach to humor would not be particularly productive for a group environment. Positive humor is evident when groups develop their own identification through nicknames, group history or ongoing gags.
When students and teachers were asked what element makes learning effective and exciting, a "sense of humor" was rated high on the list. Shared laughter is a powerful way to reinforce learning.
Source: "Humor in the Classroom: Considerations and Strategies" by Debra Korobkin.
Effective Communication
Asking questions of your students gets them to participate in the pursuit of knowledge, but the wrong approach can hamper this involvement.
Avoid asking complex questions -- ``What was the cause of the war of 1812 and how did the British government react to it?'' Instead, ask one question at a time, as simply as you can.
Avoid asking railroading questions to get the answer that you want -- ``What was the cause for the War of 1812, that was an economic one, that had to do with personal pride?'' Try to get the student to consider the factors themselves.
Avoid asking ``yes'' or ``no'' questions -- ``Did the British win the war of 1812?'' This limits the participation of the student to a 50/50 role of being correct.
Avoid repeating every comment, answer or question a student has -- Students will get in the habit of waiting for you to give the answer. You should not become the official answer giver.
Avoid asking the same type of question all the time -- Mix up the demands of your questioning from factual to opinion to summarizing.
Avoid immediately saying if an answer is correct -- Make sure that the student is confident of their answer and not just guessing.
Wait-Time Definition:
Wait-time is the amount of time that elapses between an tutor-initiated question and the next verbal behavior (e.g., a student response ).
Recommended Practice:
Allow at least 5 seconds of wait-time after asking a question.
Research Finding:
It has been reported that most tutors allow their students less than one second of wait-time. When wait-time is increased to three to five seconds, the following changes have been found to occur. Some of these changes are fairly immediate, while others occur over time.
* The number of student responses increases, and the incidence of non-response decreases.
* Students offer more evidence in support of their responses, offer more speculative thoughts, and give more complex answers. There is also evidence that student confidence increases (i.e., the number of "Is this right?" intonations decreases).
Increasing Your Wait-Time:
It is not uncommon for tutors to comment that it is initially difficult to increase their wait-time. If you think about it, it is likely that your own wait-time patterns extend beyond your tutoring and into your everyday interactions. Many people indicate that they are uncomfortable with "long" silences. Thus, allowing such silences in your tutoring can be unsettling at first.
When you begin experimenting with wait-time, you might find it useful to count the seconds out in your head. (For example, one-one thousand, two-one thousand, etc. If you have the urge to break the silence simply bite your tongue!) You might use this time to study the face of your student for indications of confusion or comprehension.
What to do When Students Don't Respond:
If there is no response after five to ten seconds of wait-time, you might want to do one or more of the following:
* repeat the question;
* rephrase the question;
* simplify the question;
* break the question down into its component parts;
* make your question more specific;
After each of the above alternatives, it is recommended that you allow another 5-10 seconds wait- time.
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