Showing You Care

Students will pay attention or care about what they are learning, when you care about them. Often dealing with difficult students is trying on a tutor because they don't seem to care about the material the tutor is interested in helping them with. When the tutor is interested in the student, the student will be more apt to care about learning.

The following are some ways to show students that you care:

• Be a welcoming person -- greet them by name at the beginning of a session with a smile.

• Be interested -- ask them questions about their likes and dislikes or simply, ``How are you?'' Then really listen to their answers. When you meet again refer back to the personal information you have shared. You may ask them what they thought of the performance of their favourite team or player last night.

• Don't be afraid to laugh with the student -- avoid laughing at them or their mistakes. Shared laughter is a good bond between people.

• Be aware of their accomplishments -- if you know that the student has done well in sports or other school activities, take the time to compliment them on their involvement and efforts.

• Set goals and recognize their achievements -- make sure that they know that you are aware that a goal has been achieved. They will be happy that you remembered and cared to notice.

• Smile and nod your head -- just as a person who is really listening nods towards a speaker, the tutor who is caring will smile and nod at their student.

• Don't ignore misbehaviour -- most students won't be afraid to test you. When they do, make sure that you remind them that you don't like what they did, but that you do like them.

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