Tutoring in a Virtual World
When I retired from teaching mathematics in a classroom in 2016, I thought I would be taking sailing adventures while tutoring a little bit here and there. Then in 2020 a world-wide pandemic and COVID changed everything. Envisioning life during a pandemic never even crossed our minds. Yet, here we were: asked to sanitize, tasked to be distant, and masked to protect. Initially, the hope would be that all would be normal by fall. Unfortunately, the realty was far from it. We found ourselves in a “new normal” and adapting as best as we can.
Our schools tried hard to adapt to this “new normal” by providing students with a safe and as rich of a learning environment they could. Those on the frontlines of the education battle were and continue to be true warriors. They were armed with technology that many had never used before, adapted hands-on lessons to those that could be taught with appropriate social distance metrics in play, and a host of additional tasks that added to what was already a difficult job. Kudos to our educators who undertook this challenge and led our young scholars through this unimagined minefield. Flexibility and adaptability. . .
As a tutor in this pandemic world, being flexible and adaptable became more important than maintaining regularly scheduled sessions. In the past, students would generally have standing appointments and I knew well in advance what my schedule would be like. Well, in a pandemic world, it was far from that. Within our area, there were so many different teaching models and schedules. Some were all virtual, some were hybrid, while others were all on-site. Toss in block scheduling, routine days, and onsite/offsite; scheduling was far from predictable. No two days were the same, no two weeks were the same!
So how did I make it work? Luckily, my experience with technology and remote tutoring made it an easy transition to meet with students online. With a little creativity, I was able to provide the support my students needed; but it took flexibility and adaptability. My setup was such that I could adapt for different learning needs. My laptop, iPad, document camera, and cellphone were all critical elements of my “Zoom” tutoring toolbox. Depending on the need of the student, I could easily adapt to online textbooks, handouts, and old school textbooks. For those students whose work I needed to see, I had them use their cellphone to share or send me their work.
The pandemic opened up the world of online tutoring. It demonstrated that tutoring online could work. I no longer worry about the last-minute changes as I am not driving to meet them and waiting in a Starbucks. I no longer have to find ways to fill the time gaps when a student is a “no show”. By being a virtual tutor, I can easily re-schedule to a more convenient time or adjust the length of our sessions.
So how do my students feel about the “new normal” of online tutoring? Many like the new setup as they are still getting the help they need, without leaving the comfort of their home. They like the ability to text me and get last minute help if I am available. They like the flexibility of meeting more often for shorter sessions than once a week for an hour. Most of all, no masks are no longer required!
What about the parents? No more drop offs and pickups! Need I say more.