After 14 years of elementary classroom teaching, I believed, for numerous reasons, that I was making less of a difference in students’ lives. This was a tormenting realization. There are so many different styles of learning and levels of knowledge in a single classroom that it is near impossible for a classroom teacher to be able to accommodate all students at all times. We do our best, but there is just not enough time in the day. The lack of time and resources have hindered us from teaching each student to their own ability.
But I knew I could never walk away from teaching entirely, my desire to instruct remained my life calling, my passion.
So, I determined to modify the manner in which I taught. I became a tutor.
Tutoring allows me to continue to practice my passion. I believe it also increases my odds of making a difference in young people’s lives.
By collaborating with smaller groups or individual students, I am free to apply the philosophy of differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction can be quite challenging in a classroom (where different types of learners can get lost in some systems that treat all students as identical), less so in a tutoring session. Differentiated instruction can be defined as “…tailoring instruction to meet individual needs. Whether teachers differentiate content, process, products, or the learning environment, the use of ongoing assessment and flexible grouping...”[1]
A student’s interests, culture, motivation, academic strengths, and weaknesses vary considerably. As I approach each student with this understanding, the very construct of tutoring sessions provides the flexibility and relationship generation needed for me to fully apply the framework of differentiated instruction.
By doing so, an enhanced learning bond suddenly transcends homework help, test prep, and other pressing needs, to address long-term life skills such as critical thinking.
Fishbowl Tutoring believes in meeting each students’ needs. We identify the point of where the students’ prior knowledge ends and where the student would most benefit from one-on-one attention.
Anna Salmon
Director
I like a teacher
who gives you something
to take home to think about
besides homework.
— Lily Tomlin
[1] http://www.readingrockets.org/article/what-differentiated-instruction