The tutor is a "role model" who provides clarification, interpretation, review and study strategies in a subject area for students. S/he fosters learning and independence by empowering the tutee with the necessary skills. Depending on the needs of students, tutors may serve in one or more of the following roles:

No matter what role you play, remember you are impacting the life of another.

Tutoring Tips:

1. Relax and be yourself
You are not responsible for teaching or re?teaching the entire curriculum. However, you are responsible for being prepared and having a plan for each academic session.

2. Respect your tutee
Be non-judgmental; accept his/her personality without trying to manage or change the person to your own style, Work on maintaining a non-patronizing relationship.

3. Maintain Confidentiality
Information gained about your tutee's academic or personal challenges should not be shared with individuals outside of the enrichment program staff.

4. Be supportive and not intimidating
Just because the coursework is easy for you, doesn't mean it's easy for everyone. Be sensitive to the areas of difficulty of your tutees and help them to work on these areas. Do not over power them with what you know. Provide guidance to help them develop their self-confidence in the subject area.

5. Provide positive reinforcement as often as possible
Your tutee may have had little success in the subject so far or be anxious about the content due to prior with the subject material and/or instructor. So, your job is to make sure this is a positive and enriching experience for him/her by offering positive feedback on progress and accomplishments. During the tutoring session allow the tutee to experience some success, however small.

6. Encourage Independence
Do not act as a "crutch" for your tutee's learning. Your students must be responsible for their own learning. Let them work through problems and make mistakes. This process will take patience on your part, since it will take them twice as long to do it, but the learning will be four times as great. Always remember that your goal is to work yourself out of a job! (No pun intended)

7. Be Patient
Never act annoyed or impatient with a student's lack of progress. Focus on the learning activity.

8. Be a good listener
Be aware of both verbal and non-verbal clues. Listen carefully to all of the messages about his/her feelings, the progress being made, concerns with the subject matter, and other academic requirements. If you end up doing most of the talking at each tutoring session, something is wrong.

9. Be Flexible
Be creative; try new methods and approaches in the delivery of the content, tailoring them to the learning styles of the tutee(s). Some people are visual learners, whereby pictures and graphs are helpful. While others are verbal learners, they must hear and then speak out loud while processing information.

10. Encourage your tutees to focus on "Learning How To Learn"
(Refer to sections on "Learning Skills and Tutoring Strategies")
Try to get your tutees to concentrate on developing mental processes and study skills rather than focusing on rote memorization and always getting the correct answers. Often the primary causes of a downfall are a lack of time management and study skills. Consequently, your job is to assist students to master the techniques that will make them efficient learners.

11. Don't be afraid to give assignments
To increase the value of tutoring, it is advisable to have your tutees do some work between sessions. The assignment may consist of specific tasks in preparation for the next session or for an exam, a referral to their teacher or to the library. Be sure your tutees understand the purpose of the assignment and remember to follow through and review the assigned work in the next session.

12. You don't have to have all the answers
There will be times when you find yourself in some awkward situations. For example, if the course/subject content has changed over time or simply that you don't have answers to your tutee's question never hesitate to admit that you do not know. Remember, honesty is the best policy. Use this awkward moment to work for you by making it your tutee's assignment to find out or research the response for the next session.