Having A Plan B In Teaching & Tutoring
Hi there. In this post, I talk about having a plan B when it comes to teaching and tutoring. Having a backup plan that is planned or thought of on the spot is very helpful for a teacher or tutor. There are times when things do not go to plan and the show still has to go on.
Topics
- Some Things Don't Go To Plan
- Having A Plan B For Teaching
- Improvisation Skills An Asset
Some Things Don't Go To Plan
There are times when you put in a lot of prep time in the teaching plan and it does not turn out as planned. Technical difficulties could happen, feedback from students may not be positive or even the teaching methods in the plan was not effective.
Just because the plan did not work well it does not mean that the teacher or tutor is bad. The plan simply did not work for the specific student(s).
Having A Plan B For Teaching
Once is it is recognized that the plan does not work, a plan B is needed to assist students. This plan B could be a complete different plan or this new plan could be adjusted from the original plan.
When it comes to adjustments in teaching / tutoring, consider the following:
- Are the teaching methods effective and/or for a right audience?
- Are there enough explanations / examples?
- Is my teaching / tutoring boring? not-helpful? rushed?
- Can I still teach with technical difficulties?
- Do I need to take more/less time on certain topics?
Improvisation Skills An Asset
Being able to think quickly and make important decisions given limited time is a useful skill. (Improvisation skills could be taught more in school.) If plan A in teaching does not work out, quitting is not really an option when it comes to helping students. The show must go on.
When reading the student(s), if you see confused looks it is a good idea to adjust your teaching method. It is okay to ask the student(s) if they need things explained again as some concepts are tough to digest the first time around.
If regular teaching requires a computer and then the power turns off, see if offline teaching is possible. If there is no chalk or dry erase markers available for board teaching, transitioning to online teaching can be possible.
Hello everyone, I want to share my experience in teaching. I teach at the online medical school https://medicmind.com.au/anz-interview-tutoring/ . Your thread is quite interesting and informative. Fortunately, there is no plan B in my work, because its activation speaks directly about the fact that I am not coping with my job as a teacher. I think that it is always worth doing everything at once well and efficiently.