How to build confidence in reluctant learners
For tutors
A point may come in your tutoring career when one of your students shuts down and becomes uninterested. When that happens, you’ll need to do more than help them gain an understanding of a subject: You’ll have to work to reignite curiosity and instill confidence. How do you inspire interest and build self-reliance in a student who is reluctant to learn?
Here are five ways online tutors can support students who have the capacity to do well academically but need a little help discovering their potential.
There’s nothing more inspiring to struggling students than being reminded they can do it. Set the tone and build confidence by starting each session with questions you know your student can answer correctly. Revisit concepts that previously interested the student and develop a couple of questions in advance. When the student answers these questions correctly, their confidence will go up, and they will have a more positive, “I can do this,” mindset for the remainder of your session.
Success is rarely achieved without a strategic plan in place. Design a plan for teaching the subject matter that is paced for the student’s learning ability. Create opportunities for grasping a concept. Don’t rush. Plan ahead of time for a pace that is different from your usual speed.
A reluctant learner often needs to know why the material matters. “How am I going to use this in real life?” is a question we hear from students who’d rather not be spending their time in tutoring. To prevent this, get ahead of their lack of interest by making your lessons applicable to them. Discuss relevant content that matches your student’s interests and explain how the material you teach relates to those subjects.
For instance, if you’re teaching chemistry and your student is interested in makeup, discuss how makeup appears differently on different skin types or reacts to different temperatures. Use that example to segue into how those chemical or physical changes directly relate to chemistry.
Students want to know they are heard, especially if they’re struggling. Give your student the opportunity to communicate with you, from expressing concerns to sharing “Aha!” moments. Listen during this time. Be prepared to show empathy, provide feedback, or even toss confetti and celebrate. Your responses to the student’s feedback will not go unnoticed.
Set goals your students can achieve. Write each goal they achieve on the Remind digital whiteboard, so they have a visual reminder that they are making progress. After they achieve a goal, increase the complexity of the next goal. And remember, always emphasize what they can do, never what they can’t.
Tutors can be a source of hope for students and their families. As you work to inspire interest and instill confidence in struggling or reluctant learners, Remind is here to help. Visit our blog for the latest on how to build a successful tutoring relationship to support student learning, or sign up here to become a Remind tutor today.
