I had my last tutorial for the semester today.
My students gave me a round of applause.*
That was very gratifying. And I am very grateful to them for acknowledging the work I put into tutoring.
*Damn straight – I’m bragging! Occasionally lecturers get a round of applause at the end of a course, but ahem, actually, it’s very unusual for tutors to be acknowledged like that.
Congratulations, it is unusual for a tutor to get a round of applause in my experience too. I wonder if perhaps it is the “theatre” component of a lecture theatre that makes it happen? A tutorial or seminar is more like being at a meeting, where it would feel a bit weird to clap (but it would be ok to say thanks or head off to the pub together).
When you’re not doing a lot of paid work, it is particularly nice when it’s gratifying I think.
You obviously made a good impression on them.
Yay!
I’d be chuffed if that happened to me.
Congratulations, you’re allowed to brag – in six years in total at university I experienced only one ovation for a lecturer and none for a tutor.
Well done. There should be more of it. Where I work the students have been besieging the staff with complaints this week. It’s a huge first-year subject (over 2000 enrolments in two units) so of course there are issues and problems and even the smallest proportion of punters getting pissed off makes for a lot of work for the two admin staff. Most unpleasant for everyone.
Awesome work.
I was on the receiving end of last tute today, and all I gave my tutor was a really, really good rap on the evaluation sheet. Paired with some very sarcastic remarks about the course itself.
Good on you, in my experience, getting a word out of students is miraculous enough!
Claim it, you deserve it.
Very impressive.
So what’s the secret of your success?
Charm, wit, intelligence, good looks. The usual, of course!
Seriously, a number of things.
- I’m confident about my knowledge – I hold a PhD in the area I teach in.
- I make a big effort to learn all my students’ names, and use them.
- In the first few weeks, nothing a student says is ever wrong. I take whatever they say, and use it to push the conversation forward, or turn it into something useful, and then use it. By about half way through the semester, I might tell some students if I think what they are saying is wrong, but that depends very much on the student, and whether I think she or he trusts me.
- I use common, everyday knowledge, and avoid jargon assiduously.
- I make it clear that I think that I am not the smartest person in the room, and that all I have is many years more experience.
- I have done a fair amount of public speaking, so I’m pretty confident about talking and using the whiteboard effectively.
- I never, ever use powerpoint in tutorials.
A lot of it is about building confidence and trust. Once I have established those, things usually go well. And it helps if I have some talkative students. I had one excellent tutorial group last year, with several very talkative young men, who were always happy to try out ideas. I used to look forward to teaching that group every week.
In the first few weeks, nothing a student says is ever wrong.
Everything you’ve said is good advice which I intend to follow (although the phD thing might take a while), but this part in particular I intend to take to heart for the upcoming trimester.
I just finished off a semester tutoring in an Australian university, and feel like I underperformed – compared to the last time I tutored. I’ll take your advice to heart.
I struggled with names. I forget the names of best friends I’ve known for years, so it wasn’t surprising I’d have to work on it. Over 50 is a lot to learn, but I should have made more effort.
The course was also particularly specific to Australia, and I found a lot of my generalised knowledge wasn’t particularly relevant or interesting, and being first year, first semester, I wasn’t able to deal with much theory.
Better next time, if it comes around!
I struggle with names too, and I do poorly on facial recognition tests. But I have a technique that usually helps. Give me a day or so to draw a pretty diagram, and I will put it up as a post. And no – it’s not a cutesy-pie mnemonic trick.
“Charm, wit, intelligence, good looks. The usual, of course!”
And you have a flexible mind… IMO
Agree with Steven on the flexible mind. I think that a quick wit helps when tutoring, also – you never know what will come up and you need to be ready to deal with any opinion reasonably (ie without bursting into wild laughter!), no matter how outlandish it might appear.