I graduated summa cum laude from Yale University with a double major in Chemistry and Japanese, but during my first semester, I never thought I would get there. My math and chemistry courses were so much harder than anything I'd ever faced before, and I wondered whether the admissions office had made a mistake. Luckily, I had wonderful professors and TAs by my side. They showed me the importance of careful planning, kindness, creativity, and good humor when tutoring; but even more than that,...
I graduated summa cum laude from Yale University with a double major in Chemistry and Japanese, but during my first semester, I never thought I would get there. My math and chemistry courses were so much harder than anything I'd ever faced before, and I wondered whether the admissions office had made a mistake. Luckily, I had wonderful professors and TAs by my side. They showed me the importance of careful planning, kindness, creativity, and good humor when tutoring; but even more than that, they helped me regain confidence in my own abilities. When we struggle, we start to feel powerless and demotivated. We stop wanting to study, That's why my tutoring method relies on helping my students regain their confidence by drawing their attention to the strengths they already have. I then use those strengths to inform my tutoring approach, tailoring my lessons to each student's needs.
I also build engagement by showing students the real-life utility of what they're learning, drawing educational pictures and cartoons for visual learners, and asking students plenty of questions as we work to check which parts they understand and which parts they're still shaky on. At the end of each lesson, I make sure to remind each student of one way they've improved since the last time we met, slowly building their confidence in the material. Confident students begin to enjoy learning, are more motivated to study, and achieve better grades, creating a positive feedback loop that's a recipe for success.
