- #1
bluechic92
- 175
- 15
So I am looking for advice from anyone really, especially ones from experienced teaching experience.
I've been tutoring this past year, part time. Most of my students are very happy with me and we have a great tutor/student relationship.
There was one student I met with only 4 times. Twice for math and twice for physics. The student met only because he wanted to learn some materials that he missed in class. He was sick and had to miss about a week of school. I thought we were doing great because his mom always emails with feedback. She said her son was happy and was receiving good grades! He seemed to be interested in physics too because he wants to be an engineer.
The last time we met was for a huge exam he was going to have- A mock AP Physics exam. For some reason, he forgot everything we covered in the past. He forgot all the concepts, formulas, as well as dealing with fractions. I thought he was nervous, so I started off on conceptual questions (while also working on boosting his confidence). Once he and I felt confident about those, I gave him some questions that require calculations. I noticed that he was very very slow with the calculations. He did know how to solve algebraic equations ( i.e 2x+4 = 6), he did not know how to do ".5x4" without a calculator, and he forgot all his trig. I was getting worried and spent a good chunk of the session doing math problems as well with simple numbers. This was an extended session and we covered a lot of material. He felt good after the session was over and I felt that he was much better the concepts too. I gave him some tips on reviewing his math as well +additional problems. I always gave room for him to ask questions + give comments for me as well.
I never heard back from the mom, but I heard from a third party that he had failed the exam and the parents blamed me for it. The reason he failed was because he had trouble with the math because I encouraged him to do math without a calculator. He also memorized the problems I worked on with him and tried to solve other problems the same way, which is not something I encouraged him to do.
Of course I felt terrible that he failed and I am no longer his tutor anymore. What can I do to improve? I do not want to discourage students...Edit: I know you can use calculator on AP PHysics exam, but I thought it would be good for him to able to some simple math stuff ( i.e 2x25, 1/3 ( 12) ). I guess I was wrong.
Edit: I tutored him for pre-calc, and he understood it very well. He enjoyed our sessions and did well on his exams. His trouble seems to be with algebra and fractions/multiplying numbers(because he got used to using a calculator too much).
I've been tutoring this past year, part time. Most of my students are very happy with me and we have a great tutor/student relationship.
There was one student I met with only 4 times. Twice for math and twice for physics. The student met only because he wanted to learn some materials that he missed in class. He was sick and had to miss about a week of school. I thought we were doing great because his mom always emails with feedback. She said her son was happy and was receiving good grades! He seemed to be interested in physics too because he wants to be an engineer.
The last time we met was for a huge exam he was going to have- A mock AP Physics exam. For some reason, he forgot everything we covered in the past. He forgot all the concepts, formulas, as well as dealing with fractions. I thought he was nervous, so I started off on conceptual questions (while also working on boosting his confidence). Once he and I felt confident about those, I gave him some questions that require calculations. I noticed that he was very very slow with the calculations. He did know how to solve algebraic equations ( i.e 2x+4 = 6), he did not know how to do ".5x4" without a calculator, and he forgot all his trig. I was getting worried and spent a good chunk of the session doing math problems as well with simple numbers. This was an extended session and we covered a lot of material. He felt good after the session was over and I felt that he was much better the concepts too. I gave him some tips on reviewing his math as well +additional problems. I always gave room for him to ask questions + give comments for me as well.
I never heard back from the mom, but I heard from a third party that he had failed the exam and the parents blamed me for it. The reason he failed was because he had trouble with the math because I encouraged him to do math without a calculator. He also memorized the problems I worked on with him and tried to solve other problems the same way, which is not something I encouraged him to do.
Of course I felt terrible that he failed and I am no longer his tutor anymore. What can I do to improve? I do not want to discourage students...Edit: I know you can use calculator on AP PHysics exam, but I thought it would be good for him to able to some simple math stuff ( i.e 2x25, 1/3 ( 12) ). I guess I was wrong.
Edit: I tutored him for pre-calc, and he understood it very well. He enjoyed our sessions and did well on his exams. His trouble seems to be with algebra and fractions/multiplying numbers(because he got used to using a calculator too much).