Surviving tutoring during lockdown
Many tutors are for the first time navigating the digital space like never before and making use of technology as a means of communicating with their students. The national lockdown has forced businesses, individuals and even educators to think differently about how they offer their services.
Impaq spoke to a couple of the tutors making use of our products and services to find out how they are tackling the challenges of tutoring remotely.
Ensure effective communication
Patricia de Swardt from Wise Owl Tutoring says that communication is key. “Parents and learners need to be informed regularly of what needs to be done to ensure that they do not fall behind,” Patricia adds. To ensure that communication happens effectively, she advised on making use of WhatsApp groups as well as individual emails to learners and parents. It is important to know what medium of communication learners and parents use and what they access to ensure that they get your message.
Host online sessions
One of the mediums Patricia uses is Zoom. The online meeting platform allows learners to ask questions and interact with the tutor. Set up individual or small group sessions with your learners to work through the tests they have just written and to work through the memorandum. You can identify ahead of time the areas that the learners are struggling with and focus on those areas during the session. Cecilia Klopper from CuraParent says that hosting Zoom classes is ideal as she gets to share documents and presentations with her learners. They can follow on screen and can interact via Zoom.
Some subjects require more time than others. This is why Patricia has arranged for specific lessons in Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Life Sciences for Grade 10 to 12 learners.
Make sure that you send tasks due for Term 2 to the learners along with deadlines that they need to adhere to. Patricia says that this will ensure that learners are kept busy academically and keep them on top of their work. They need to work through their study guides and do the exercises. Any questions they may have or challenges they experience can then be discussed during the Zoom sessions.
Use visual aids
Ronel Pretorius from Fiducia Academy and Casey Geraghty from GC Learning Academy both make use of Google Classroom. Ronel also uses Microsoft Whiteboard to assist learners. She schedules sessions with learners via Google Calendar. Here they have access to a live feed of the lessons she presents. She shares her whiteboard, which is like having a chalkboard in front of a class as well as study notes and tasks with students. Her students can share documents with her via this app or send it to her via WhatsApp.
Casey also makes use of Flipgrid as she finds it useful for class discussions and oral preparations. It allows students to film videos of themselves discussing a topic that can be shared with classmates and their tutor. This means that you as the tutor can critique and give them feedback on their oral preparations and help them prepare for their Practical Assessments Tasks (PATs).
Willem Sandilands from Betlechem Sentrum says that they make use of ClickMeeting Webinars. Space is rented per month and they currently present four subjects per day, each an hour long.
Help students learn a new skill
During this time, tutors are also coming up with unique new projects. Steven Barnard from the Village Edu-Centre, The Willows, created the Farmer Kidz 21-day programme for their Farmer Kidz, their families and friends. The programme enables you to build your own micro vegetable farm. The videos are free of charge and you can subscribe to their 21-day programme at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfrwFOcUEeOoy8Aw6J78hOQ
Save the year
Patricia aptly chose “Save this year” as her slogan for 2020. This year is all but lost. With amazing tools and tips like these, our students will not only “get through it” but excel at the end of the day.
"Save this year"
Patricia aptly chose “Save this year” as her slogan for 2020. This year is all but lost. With amazing tools and tips like these, our students will not only “get through it” but excel at the end of the day.
