01/19/09

After school today there were quite a lot of students who showed up for tutoring. Since I normally try to work one-on-one after school it gets hard when a lot of students show up because I cannot give them individual attention for their individual questions. Usually, with a large group I sometimes have them tell me the page and problem number and I then I write the problem on the board. I ask them to tell me what to write and then correct them if they make a mistake. This helps cover the same question and can save time when many students are having trouble with the same problem. On the other hand, it sometimes can be less effective in the event that a student isn't paying attention and the one-on-one help is better for them.

Today, I tried something different. Since some of the juniors showed up first, I answered their questions. When they were done I asked them to work with some of the freshmen. It's awesome to watch the students help each other out. The juniors always seem eager to show them because they feel like the work is easy for them and it allows them to show the freshman how "easy" it is.