Tutoring Techniques

Tutoring and Active Listening Techniques or "How to Get Your Tutee to Talk More Than You"
For more tutoring techniques, see CSU Pomona's Tutor Training resources at http://www.csupomona.edu/~lrc/tutortraining/mark69.html

 

TEN SECOND RULE

 

After asking a question or follow up question, or beginning a problem, allow at least ten seconds for the student to respond. This may seem like a long time, but if you are patient, often the student will have time to think of a response. Don't be afraid to allow an awkward silence to occur before you jump in. This will let the student know that you are listening and expect him or her to participate.

 

PUTTING DOWN THE PENCIL

 

As a tutor, try working without a pencil or pen, in order to force the tutee to write and be more active. Make sure the paper or book is in front of the tutee, not the tutor. For more on putting down the pencil, see: http://www.csupomona.edu/~lrc/tutortraining/mark693.html

 

ECHOING

 

Often a distortion develops between what a speaker intends to say and what a listener actually hears. To improve communication and help a student clarify what her or she is trying to say, a tutor should reflect or restate what he or she has just heard.

Examples: "I heard you say...Am I right?" "Are you saying that..." "In other words.."

 

PROBING

Probing can be useful for helping a student understand reading assignments, prepare to write, review a concept for a test or quiz, or for conversation in a foreign language or ESL A probing response forces the tutor to listen carefully, and pushes the student to think and move beyond the first statement.

• Clarifying Asking a student for more information or meaning, restate

Examples: "What do you mean by that?" "Tell me more!" "Be more specific." "Anything else?" "So what's an example of that?"

• Challenging Asking a student to justify, reflect, or think about answer

Examples: "What are you assuming?" "How can that be?" "How would you do that?" "Are you sure?"

• Refocusing Asking a student to relate answer to another idea or topic

Examples: "How is that related to..." "If this were true, then what would happen if..."

• Prompting Giving a student a hint, or rephrasing a question to help lead to the answer after a student has tried and failed to understand

Examples: "Let me put it another way..." "Here's a clue..." "So what's the first step?" "Remember when we talked about..."

• Requesting Summary Asking for a restatement of what has just been said or learned, in terms of content and process.

Examples: "OK, now you explain back to me what we just said." "Now you teach it to me." "Summarize the steps for me."

 

MODELING A THOUGHT PROCESS/BREAKING A TASK INTO PARTS

Modeling can be useful for solving problems in math and science, doing grammar exercises, teaching study skills, studying for a test, reading a textbook, or revising a paragraph.

 

1. First, ask the student how he or she would approach the problem. Look in the book and class notes. S/he may not realize how much s/he already knows.

Examples: "What did you learn in class?" How would you start this?" "Then what would you do?"

2. Next, model your own processes for the task by thinking out loud as you SLOWLY do the task.

Examples: "Hmmm, what do I do now?" "I usually begin by..." "Then I figure out if..."

3. Do another example together slowly, step by step, asking the student what to do for each step.

4. Have the student do the task alone, observing, giving encouragement, and coaching him or her along the way.

 

Examples: "Good, keep going!" "Remember what you do next..." "Do you want to write down the steps so you can remember them?"

5. Finally, fade into the background and let the student take on responsibility for the task.

 

Examples: "Great! Now you can do it on your own!" "Show me how you will do this when you are studying this by yourself"

 

For more tutoring techniques, see:

• Group Tutoring Ideas
• CSU Pomona's Tutor Training resources at http://www.csupomona.edu/~lrc/tutortraining/mark69.html