Tutor Tips: Location, location, location
Picking a location for hosting your tutoring sessions can be difficult, and it isn’t just a problem that TOEFL tutors have. Tutors may not want to host students in their house for a number of reasons, like lack of space or having distracting roommates. Going to the tutees house can also pose potential problems, too.
Some tutors opt to meet their tutee at a public location like a coffee shop, but this can be loud and distracting depending on where it is.
Libraries are a popular choice as well, and I think libraries offer a number of advantages.
However, I think meeting on a college campus if at all possible is a great place to host your sessions. If you are a student or employee at the college, this will be convenient, but when it comes to studying for the TOEFL, this setting offers unique advantages.
One of the things I like to teach students who are struggling with the listening section is vocabulary specific to university life. Knowing who the registrar is or what the librarian means when he/she says something is in the stacks or at the reference desk will help students anticipate and understand the conversations that they hear on the exam. Having students physically there to see the vocabulary words will help solidify these words in a way that just learning them from paper cannot. Another bonus would be that the student is actually exposed to the same conversations that the TOEFL tries to mimic.
Do you have a student who is struggling with his/her motivation? Having a session on a college campus might be exactly what these students need to find their inspiration. College campuses are engineered to look impressive, so use the location to its fullest extent.
When you do find the perfect location, with minimal distractions and outside noise, remember to set up in a way that encourages the student to feel at ease. This means sitting at a table in an L shape, stationed adjacent, is far better than sitting across, which might come across as adversarial or intimidating. Your location relative to the tutee matters and can really set the tone for your relationship, so keep this in mind when selecting the specific set up.
Location isn't only important in real estate. Give students the best chance of success by making smart decisions about the tutor/tuteee environment.
-Danielle
