Blog Post 8 - Victoria Nemeth

During our class where we reflected on our experiences tutoring, I found it very comforting to know that I wasn’t the only one who was having troubles navigating the new territory that comes with tutoring at the EMK.  I have worked with kids in the past, but I haven’t ever tutored anyone who was only a year younger than me. I also was nervous because I don’t consider myself the best writer, let alone able to help other students with it.  I have had three tutoring sessions, and each one was different, but I think with each one I am learning and improving on how I can be better with helping the students. The first tutoring session was with juniors who really only wanted to watch tik toks the whole time.  The second session, I was sitting with a girl who was really focused, so I didn’t really know what to do, but I sat next to her and read over her paragraphs and gave suggestions after she finished each one. During our last tutoring session, I sat with a student who also was kind of doing his own thing, so I brought my book with me to read, so I wasn’t awkwardly sitting next to him, and he felt comfortable being able to do his work without feeling as if I’m hovering.  This was a helpful suggestion that the volunteers gave during a debrief.

During our last tutoring session we debriefed about having a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset, and how knowing the difference can affect our tutoring.  Having a growth mindset is about knowing strengths, and emphasizing those when tutoring. Instead of being stuck in the mindset that someone doesn’t want to do work, or doesn’t care, a growth mindset would approach that situation differently.  For example, maybe pace the work out through class period or think about how it’s the end of the day, and it may be difficult to focus at that time, or even think about how their mind may not be at school right now.  

I think this debrief was really helpful in letting me see that it isn’t all about getting them to do their work as much as it’s about being a person who is there to listen, bounce ideas off of, or even just to sit next to them and check their work when they’re done.  

This debrief also helped me change the mindset in which I think of myself as a tutor.  During the first few tutoring sessions I didn’t think I was capable of helping students who were just a year younger than me, but I think hearing about the growth mindset during the debrief of our session helped me to see that I don’t have to be perfect, as long as I’m present and help the students to see that they are able to do their work, even if it doesn’t seem like it to them.  I think going forward with a growth mindset for my tutoring can help me a lot to be more positive about how I can be helpful to students.