Building Relationships: Enhancing Tutor & Student Partnerships

With the new school year well underway, many of our students are beginning to participate in tutoring sessions focused on enhancing their literacy skills! And of course these students cannot partake in these sessions without the presence and support of our incredible volunteer tutors, who take it upon themselves to build the positive relationships essential to student success within the tutoring setting.
Building Relationships: Tutor Tips
As we have many students and volunteer tutors in the process of meeting for the first time and beginning those relationships, we thought it timely to provide some tips for tutors in regards to building positive relationships with the students whom they tutor.

• Talk with your student: take the time during every session to chat with your student about topics not related to the lesson plan. This will help your student feel more connected to you, enhance trust and build respect—all of which will help your student respond positively to your efforts to build her academic, social and behavioral skills.
• Listen to your student: slow down and truly listen to your student as this will allow you to appropriately and compassionately respond to her in future sessions.
• Incorporate student interests: note student interests that may popup during side conversations and record these for your TLC Tutor Coach. This will allow your Tutor Coach to incorporate those interests into the weekly lesson plan and hopefully enhance student engagement!
• Teach to student strengths: Help your student build confidence and the skills to appropriately utilize their strengths. Also acknowledge and provide strategies for overcoming weaknesses—having the courage to overcome weaknesses is also a strength!
• Communicate often with your Tutor Coach: What is and is not working for your student during sessions? In what areas do you see your student struggling? What ideas do you have for the sessions? Communicate these to TLC staff so we can best serve the student you work with! And you can always ask us questions!

Building Relationships: Parent Tips
As students also play a pivotal role in building successful tutoring relationships, following are tips for parents to help your student move in this direction:

• Talk to your child about her tutor: ask your child about their tutor and encourage her get to know her tutor better.
• Ask your child what she is working on during tutoring sessions: discuss with your child what she is working on during her tutoring sessions. This will help solidify the knowledge your child’s tutor is trying to build. Further, touch base with TLC staff for tips on how you can help your student work on the same skills at home.
• Remind your child that their tutor is there to help them: especially as your student gets comfortable with their tutor early on, remind them that their tutor is there because they care about helping your child succeed.
• Try to avoid last minute cancellation of sessions: remember that our tutors are volunteering their time to help your child. While tutors certainly recognize that things will come up, if you know your child will be absent for a session, please inform TLC staff in a timely fashion. Further, assuring your student regularly shows up will enhance their relationship with their tutor, which is essential in tutoring success.
• Provide feedback: Let your child’s tutor/TLC staff know what you are seeing at home and hearing from her teacher. Is she experiencing success? Let your tutor know! And if you have questions or concerns, please bring these forward so TLC, the tutor and you can best serve your student. After all, we are all working as a team to build a future for your child!