I’ve started tutoring through an organization called Step Up Tutoring. They run online-only free tutoring for students in grades 3 through 6 in the LA school district, one of the largets in the country. They haven’t been around long, but have already developed a great relationship with the district and a pretty robust network of tutors (mainly in California) to work with the students.
As I’ve been transitioning away from the broader curriculum, and really educational, aspects of my company, it’s important to me to find opportunities like this to stay connected with my passion for education. And it’s really been a treat so far.
Working within an organization provides both accountability and support. I have an obligation both to my student and my organization to develop a strong relationship, but the organization also provides scaffolding. They set up communication channels with the student and parents, as well as creates boundaries and expectations about how frequently sessions should occur and how long they should be. This reduces the overhead on my part, and really makes the time spent volunteering focused almost exclusively on the student, which is better for both the student and me.
Even beyond those organizational aspects, it’s been a long time since I’ve worked with a kid in this capacity. I’d nearly forgotten that it’s just fun and rewarding. My particular student is easy-going, willing to go along with me on whatever activity I have planned for the session. I have the flexibility to show off my interests while exploring his, and model what it’s like to be curious about the world. He’s pretty young, so setting a good example of what positive educational experiences can be is important. That makes it even more exciting that we get to develop our understanding of each other over the summer, then once the school year starts working on less exciting stuff (like homework) will be more palatable.
I’m excited by this chance. While it was a whirlwind getting set up, with everything happening rather quickly (partly due to the organization’s efficiency, and also due to a long waitlist of students), now that I’m matched and going about my business of planning sessions it’s become comfortable.
I don’t want to lose touch on what working with students is like, particularly those who are not the high-flyers my company typically works with. While you can learn a lot from such kids, they’re out of the ordinary and I will always have passion for working to instill in students an excitement about learning in general, whatever their interests are, that can often be lost at a young age.