Blog post #7 - Brittany Means

When tutoring a student one on one in person, I feel that I have access to their reactions in a way that I don’t have with online tutoring. For instance, if I recommend to a student that they could change a sentence to communicate an idea better, I can see from their body language, the way they scrunch their face or twist up their mouth, whether they feel that they are being listened to and understood or not. Sometimes a suggestion I give does not fit with the idea they actually want to communicate, but even if they don’t feel comfortable telling me, I can pick up on their nonverbal response and either ask them if it’s helpful or redirect.

Ted Remington sold me on some benefits on online tutoring though, in “Reading, Writing, and the Role if the Online Tutor.” That we can better play the role of anonymous audience in an asynchronous online session is notable. I will definitely incorporate “As a reader, I...” into my online feedback from now on. 

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 10, 2018 at 11:10 AM

    I definitely relate to your use of nonverbal cues during tutoring sessions, Brittany. Particularly when I work with my PhD students, I notice in subtle gestures when I've gotten something wrong or misunderstood something on the page - and this happens quite a bit because both of my students are quite advanced in subjects that I'm not familiar with (urban planning/economics and quantitative sociological research).

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