tutoring outside of class
I have a student who is falling behind in class and having a hard time learning the material. Yesterday he offered to pay me to tutor him outside of class. I wasn't sure how to respond. It's probably unethical to accept money from a student but I was wondering how to get him caught up.
My institution has tutoring worked right into the program. The instructors are compensated for their time by the school but the students don't have to pay out of pocket for the service. Students have to inform an instructor of their need for tutoring & schedule an appointment. They are expected to make attempts throughout the course, not just use it as a review for the exam. They are also expected to bring specific topics of concern since the session isn't supposed to be viewed as reteaching the entire class. We also mandate tutoring for those students who may be on academic probation and keep documentation of their attempts on their progress reports.
Hi Michelle,
Talk with your Student Services Office about his request for a tutor and that he asked you to help him out. They will be able to tell you what the policy is for your college. Maybe you can help find him a tutor so he will be able to keep up with the class.
Gary
I believe that it would be unethical to accept money from a student. Your school should have tutoring available for the students.
Well said, Denise. I agree with yout parameters of tutoring, it involves extra work from the student, as well as the instructor.
I am having a problem getting students to actually come to tutoring. I am offering both group and one-on-one tutoring and no one is showing up. I have several people failing and can't for the life of me get them to come for help. I did, however, have one student come who is failing but only wanted to know what would be on the next test and when I said I wasn't going to tell her exactly what would be on the test as that wasn't fair to her or her classmates she got mad and left the session. What other ways can I get students to come for help?
I have been tutoring two students for the past week. One of the stipulations, un-enforced, is that I ask the students to read my PowerPoint, and read the section of the textbook before coming to the session. Now, if the student does not show up, the reason might be because they learned the material on their own by putting forth the effort.
Hi Kaleena,
It sounds like these challenging students are not accepting responsibility for their own futures. You can offer them bonus points to come to the tutoring sessions or some other rewards they value but I don't really support doing it. The reason is the tutoring sessions are there for them. If they chose not to attend then the consequences are up to them as well. If they fail they fail. By trying to motivate and engage them in the learning process you have done your job as an educator. They know you are there to support them but they must accept such support in order to pass the course. That is all that you can do. Concentrate on your students that are there to learn and be successful so you receive some positive feedback via their success. This is what will keep you excited about being a teacher.
Gary
Thanks for this idea. I think I will use it with my own class.
In my opinion I would never take money from a student for extra help.
