DELIVERING HOPE
Yesterday I had my 8th and final session with Jo. We had been working together on the dreaded junior year test prep for the ACT. She confessed to me she expected it to be “boring, random, and altogether uninteresting.” Which explained perfectly why Jo arrived anxious, super tentative, and braced for both boring and droning teachers.
We did not deliver what she expected!
Jo’s words spilled out at our final session with a sweet smile, “this has been SO fun…. Do I even tell my friends that test prep was an actual “good time?” She shared that a friend asked what she was up to, she said she needed to do her ACT prep homework…. And the friend immediately responded with “oh bummer – that’s such a drag.” Jo laughed – and said “NOPE! It’s so fun.” As her tutor, I couldn’t help but laugh too! Maybe it shouldn’t be a secret!
I think effective tutoring should maybe be called “Delivering HOPE”.
Is HOPE a strategy?
One definition of hope is: “a feeling of trust.” This is EVERYTHING for the success of our students. If we don’t have their trust, we will be on shaky ground.
Another definition of hope is “expecting a positive outcome.” Until it is proven otherwise we must have full expectations that good things are ahead for our students: improved scores, more confidence and reduced stress with learning. AND the big score gain they are after!
Sometimes our students need to “borrow” our confidence for a little while. This is how they change their lives and perspectives.
For Jo, hope transformed her expectation about sitting a big test. The test had morphed into a game instead of something she dreaded. It was “fun” vs. expected drudgery. That’s a big leap!
We all know Test Prep is daunting. There are grammar rules that need to be reviewed and practiced. There are reading strategies to apply and time management skills to learn, math concepts that have been forgotten, and graphs and tables to work with.
Learning something new takes time. You don’t just jump in a plane and GO! You need to study how the instruments work, how the engine functions and at some point down the line, you finally crawl into the cockpit and actually fly. Prep work is somewhat like that.
Here’s a few of our secret PRO tips we use to help our students succeed:
Study your student – learn a variety of things that they are interested in, what they enjoy, likes and dislikes.
Connect the content to those things you learned about them!
Be light-hearted and positive.
Use effective praise often. This goes a long, long, LONG way
Remember the little personal things your student tells you and revisit them over the course of your time together.
Share your own stories of overwhelm, practice, struggles and success
My favorite measurement of success comes in comments like Jo’s:
“What is happening to me?”
“This has been SO fun…. “
“Do I even tell my friends that test prep was an actual “good time?”
What better indicator that hope was at work than Jo’'s willingness to look at her mistakes, learn a new way to approach them, and then WIN! Student’s who feel well supported will feel less daunted by intimidating subjects and concepts. Student’s who feel well supported are changed and grow in confidence, self esteem and belief about what they are capable of.
One of the common questions I get asked when new families sign up to work with us is how we measure success.
I love the question!
For some it’s an attitude shift, for others a strategic approach unlocks calm internally, for another it can be the ability to stay better organized and manage their load without parents hovering as much. It can be the bouquet of flowers a student brings, or hand picked blackberries in a zip lock bag to share or the “do I have to leave already, I don’t want to go” comments — success shows up in a so many ways. Change shows up in so many ways.
For Jo, it was clearly evident that her perspective and approach to the ACT was completely upside down for the better. And wouldn’t you know it - a couple weeks later her scores were released and she’d beaten her own goal! WINNING!