Students want to do well. My goal is to help them reach their goal!
I tutor a broad range of students: public and private school, grades 8-12, across a large swath of the city. My students come to see me for many reasons. Some see me to address low grades, some to gain a respite from classroom stress, some just to appease their parents… See my previous posts for some of my thoughts on these students. Rarer, but perhaps most fulfilling, are those who see me to dive deeper into a subject that seems interesting to them.
It strikes me, however, that, whatever the reason they choose to see me, they do so out of an intense desire to do well, to meet expectations, to rise to the challenges placed before them. Their parents may be the catalyst for their attendance, but the students need to show up each session and push to engage with the complex and confounding material. This is strong evidence that students are innately driven by a desire to learn.
If students want to do well, then I need only provide the opportunity. If they wish to meet expectations, then it is my duty to create an environment that supports that. Students want to do well. My goal is to help them reach their goal!
As a classroom teacher, for whatever the reason, I didn’t fully appreciate the implications of the desire of students to learn. I fell short of my potential. Now, as a tutor, I devote myself to that work. I open doors for students to achieve in the way that they wish to. I help them, surely, but it is not my learning that is being assessed. *They* do the work, I just set the scene.
Let’s work to change the lens through which we view education. Rather than asking “Why don’t they get it? Don’t they want to?” let’s reframe the question to “I know they want to get it. How can I help them?” Let’s change our structures and systems, to the extent possible, to facilitate student achievement. It’s their grade, let’s help them earn it themselves! Great students deserve great support. Let’s support our students’ goals.
Physics and Math are hard! Ask your teacher for help if you need it. Ask me if you need more.