\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhen a student says, \u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d gently remind them that, sure, that\u2019s partly true. However, you\u2019re going to add \u201cyet\u201d to that statement. By changing \u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d to \u201cI can\u2019t yet<\/i>, \u201c this allows a little wiggle room for the hope that even though something is hard, that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s impossible. Reminding your struggling student that there are lots of things they\u2019ve probably thought they\u2019d never \u201cget\u201d but eventually did will help them put their current struggle into perspective. Modeling a growth mindset is an important foundational step for tutors who want to help build their students\u2019 confidence.<\/p>\nSet Achievable Goals.<\/b><\/h2>\n
Whether you\u2019re only working with a student for one session or you\u2019re planning on multiple weekly sessions, setting goals will help your students build confidence. If you\u2019re working with them for a single session, the goal should be set to something that you can accomplish in that individual session. That means that the goal should be as small as the amount of time you have to work with them. At the end of your session, to encourage their growth and to encourage them to schedule with you again, you can let them know what small step you will achieve in their next session.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSometimes, because teens\u2019 brain development hasn\u2019t quite gotten to the point where they have a realistic idea of what is possible or not, they think they\u2019re going to be able to just \u201clearn Algebra today.\u201d It\u2019s your job as the tutor to engage them in the more mature thinking of \u201cThis is what we can accomplish today. This is what we can accomplish in two days. And this is what we can accomplish if we meet two days a week for a month.\u201d Showing them how to set achievable goals relieves the pressure they unintentionally put on themselves to \u201cjust learn it.\u201d This is a valuable goal to help them build confidence as well as an important lesson to learn that they\u2019ll be able to carry over into many different parts of their lives.<\/p>\n
Guide, Don\u2019t Tell.<\/b><\/h2>\n
Sure, you could just tell your students the answers to the concepts they aren\u2019t understanding, but the real goal of a highly qualified tutor is for their students to learn how to learn. This means that instead of just telling your students \u201cnow do this,\u201d it\u2019s important instead to ask them guiding questions that lead them to the answer themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWe learn better when we discover ideas and systems ourselves. Instead of being a broken record and telling\u00a0 <\/span>your student \u201cNow, do this,\u201d ask them, \u201cWhat do you do next?\u201d and \u201cWhy did you just do it that way?\u201d or \u201cWhat makes you say that?\u201d You can follow up with questions like, \u201cWhy didn\u2019t that work?\u201d or \u201cWhat do your notes say to do?\u201d<\/p>\nWhen a student discovers how to do the work themselves with only some guidance from you, the ability to do the work stays ingrained in their mind. They feel more confident in their ability to think and figure things out themselves, and the questions you ask to guide them start to pop up when they\u2019re on their own. Your goal is to teach them how to learn, and when they start to learn that lesson, their confidence and abilities will grow. You are teaching them a valuable lesson that they can carry far beyond the tutoring session.<\/p>\n
Give Specific Praise.<\/b><\/h2>\n
The fancy term for specific praise is \u201cevidence-based behavior-specific praise.\u201d And that term really explains everything about the type of praise that helps students feel more confident about their ability to learn. If you give students generic praise like \u201cgood job\u201d that could be said to anyone<\/i> doing anything<\/i> students are quick to pick up on the insincerity of the compliment. In fact, our brains actually filter out generic compliments like that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIt only takes a second of your time to think for a moment about what you\u2019re actually wanting to praise. So instead of the generic compliment, think about the specific behavior you\u2019ve observed and compliment that! Students don\u2019t need to know that they\u2019re \u201cso smart.\u201d That\u2019s not actually a compliment about any effort they made; instead, it\u2019s a compliment about something that they might have inherited with no effort from them. But, students do gain confidence from hearing, \u201cI like what a good work ethic you showed by practicing these problems from last session.\u201d They gain a lot from compliments like, \u201cIt\u2019s cool to see your creativity and work revising shine through in the word choice in this paragraph.\u201d Rather than giving compliments that are less specific and meaningful, the praise that really resonates with your students will identify a specific behavior that you\u2019ve witnessed or seen the results of.<\/p>\n
As a tutor, you\u2019ve taken on an important role to support students when they need it the most. Breaking down barriers to learning is just as important as learning the specific academic content. You can\u2019t have one without the other, so start practicing these confidence building strategies and see how much\u00a0 <\/span>more your students bond with you and learn to trust themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What if I never understand? What if I can\u2019t understand? Why is this so hard for me? These thoughts often swirl around in the brain of a struggling student, adding to their anxiety and stressed. As they beat themselves up and worry because they are falling behind, any mental block they are experiencing related to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1124,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1120"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1125,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120\/revisions\/1125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}