10th December 2009 9:00
By Blue Tutors
New tutors are often concerned about what will happen when they first meet a student; who will direct the lesson, how long should be spent on introductions and should they prepare a lesson plan.
The answer is that there is no answer. Every student is different, and as tutors we don’t look to make students conform to the way in which we want them to learn, but we should be prepared for every eventuality, so that we can adapt to the situation that we find ourselves in.
Many tutors and students first meet informally to discuss the expected course of tuition, and to ensure that they can get on together. This meeting is generally not charged for, although some tutors do ask for their travel expenses to be covered. Some students expect a first meeting like this, some haven’t even thought about it, but if you decide that it’s the best way to proceed then it can really develop a good relationship before your lessons begin. Of course a student may not want an introductory meeting, and want to get straight into lessons as soon as possible. This is particularly common near a student’s exams.
So, what if you’ve arranged a lesson, and have no idea how to start; you may have little more information other than what your student is studying. There are two extremes for your student’s expectations: they may come to a lesson with lots of questions, knowing exactly what they want to talk about, and the help that they want you to provide, or they could sit down and simply say “right, teach me”. As tutors we should always prepare for this second situation, and have a plan for what to teach during that first lesson, but we must also allow the student to partially direct the lesson, if that’s what they need.
The funny thing is that after one or two lessons, all these concerns will be gone. Both tutor and student will arrive at each lesson knowing exactly what needs to be done, and rather than worrying about how to fill a lesson, you’ll be frustrated at how quickly it feels.