How to Prepare for your First Tutoring Lesson
So, you’ve just secured yourself your first lesson, or perhaps you’re just curious as to what it requires to plan your first tutoring session; either way, we’ve got you covered. Your first lesson can be a little intimidating and scary, but once you conquer it, we promise you’ll be on the path to many happy tutoring days ahead.
Preparation
In order for your first lesson to go smoothly, you will need to do a decent amount of preparation before meeting with your student. You need to be able to tackle any issue the student has with a subject and in order to do so, you need to know what you’re talking about. So, bring out your old text books or jump on the ‘interweb’ and refresh that old noggin.
Once you feel confident with the subject or have sufficiently refreshed your mind with its content, you can now book your first lesson! Jump on the ACE tutors app and accept lessons in your area, ensuring that you use the ACE tutors messenger system within the app to ask your student exactly they are struggling with, ensuring that you are well equipped to tackle their issues head on.
Settle Your Nerves
Your first lesson can be extremely nerve racking, so make sure you take some time to settle your nerves before you start. Take a few deep breaths or try some meditation beforehand to centre yourself and focus your mind. Don’t be overwhelmed, and know that you can always improve, you just need to start somewhere. And remember, you have absolutely nothing to lose and a whole lot of good things to gain by just trying your best.
Create a Plan
Seeing as it’s your first lesson with your student, you’ll need to create a lesson plan. The lesson can be broken down into four parts.
Firstly, introduction. This should usually only take five minutes, but for your first lesson allow for more time within the lesson so you can actually get to know your student.
Secondly, outline the student’s main issues with the subject. In your first lesson, this will take some time so allow at least 20–25 minutes to go into depth and figure out what your student is struggling with.
Thirdly, you will need to discuss these issues and explain where they are going wrong, and what to do to improve. This would usually take up most of your session, but for your first lesson, you probably won’t have much time to get into a deep discussion.
Finally, you will need to summarise what your student has learnt and your expectations for the next lesson.
Get to Know Your Student
Before you can really get started however, you will need to get to know your student. This will help you and your student ‘break the ice’ so to speak. Ask them a few questions about their interests, what they like to do on the weekend etc. After you’ve gotten to know them a little, tell them something about yourself, what you like to do in your spare time, what you’re studying etc. Once that’s out of the way, ask about their current grades, their level of learning and where they are lacking and excelling. It is extremely important for you to determine their prior knowledge on the subject so you know exactly where to start.
Once you’re clear on where your student is at, you can work together to set some goals. It’s probably a good idea to get their parents involved with this so they can help you in having your student reach these goals. If you want more in-depth instructions as to how to create goals with your student, check out our How To Succeed as a Tutor post.
Starting the Lesson
Alrighty, you should now have all the information you need to now start the lesson. All you need to do is start discussing the issues your student is having, then go from there! Start unpacking your student’s questions, discuss where they are going wrong, show them the correct way, then get your student to do the same. That’s it! You may need to read over essays or go through old tests with your student to show them what they need to correct.
Issues to Expect
Now we’re not saying that you will encounter any major issues, but from our experience, there are certain things you need to be aware of. The first being your student’s inability to explain why the subject is so challenging for them. They may feel a little bit awkward and uneasy about the lesson, just reassure them that you are not there to judge them on their progress, you’re there to help them get to where they need to be. If they are having issues expressing why the subject is so difficult for them, avoid asking your student any why questions, they only add pressure to the situation and can lower your student’s self-confidence. Instead, work towards figuring out alternatives to how they can find out the problems they are encountering and where it is they are falling behind.
Another issue you may encounter is your student attempting to procrastinate (I mean, they’re only human). This is probably due to the fact that they’re unsure as to how to start the lesson or what is expected of them. Take the lead and ensure that they remain on task.
Finally, your student may not know how to work ‘one on one’ with a tutor. This problem is easily fixed, just run them through your lesson plan, what you expect from them and what they should expect from you. Let them know what will happen each time you meet and that they should feel comfortable asking you any questions they should have about the subject.
And that’s all! You now know everything you need to know about your first lesson, how to prepare for it, how to conquer your student’s issues and how to tackle problems that may come up. If you haven’t done so already, head to the ACE Tutors app and set up an account. It’s 100% free and the easiest way to connect yourself with students in your area. Good luck!
