Apart from its obvious health and economic impacts, the COVID-19 pandemic forever redirected our way of life. In the case of education, our brick-and-mortar school models that have developed over hundreds of years, will more and more focus on distance learning models.
The focus of Tutor Attie is not to replace formal school curricula, but rather to enhance it by providing one-on-one or very small groups with remote tutoring assistance. Once the pandemic is under control/a thing of the past, person-to-person tutoring may again be offered. For now, our method of choice is to use the Zoom™ teleconferencing platform, with its built-in white board, and we use Microsoft OneNote during the session. Should you prefer not to use Zoom, we can work with your preferred online conferencing method (Google, Teams, Skype, or other). While we invested in software and hardware, it is not necessary for students to purchase any software.
Step by Step:
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To start your Tutor Attie subscription, simply fill in the student application questionnaire and press the “Submit” button. The completed questionnaire will thereby be emailed to us for review and we will contact you to schedule your initial free 30 minute session. A main objective of this 1st session is to meet you and get to know a little more about you and your goals for our tutoring sessions. Nevertheless, often the 1st session goal for the student is a pressing homework assignment. If you have such an immediate tutoring need, feel free to note that in your questionnaire or email us before the scheduled time. That way, we can get on with that and make up the get to know you session later.
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If, after your 1st session, you decide to continue with Tutor Attie, we will set up a schedule to fit your needs and send you a link to each session. On the scheduled date and time, please launch your teleconferencing link about 10 minutes before the start of the session which will place you in a “waiting room”. Should a prior session end early, yours may thereby start earlier. Also, the “waiting room” allows us to screen out uninvited attendees. Each session is 45 minutes long and must be prepaid. There is a PayPal link on our website for that purpose, or you may use another mutually agreed pre-payment method by which we can verify payment before the session starts.
- There is no contract and you may cancel your scheduled tutoring session without penalty. All we request is a courtesy communication before-hand to allow us to utilize the allotted time for another student.
You will need some basic IT capabilities:
- A computer/iPad/Surface/laptop or other smart device with a decent screen size for you to readily see and participate in what is being discussed on the “white-board”. The best would a touch screen device such as a Surface, iPad, 2-in-1 laptop on which you can use a digital pen or your finger to write/sketch with. A smartphone to interact on will be a big handicap and is not recommended.
- A built-in or USB video camera and microphone. A computer headset works great to also tune out external distracting noises.
- A good, stable internet connection. Some public WiFi hot-spots may work, but have limited bandwidth to deal with video-conferencing uninterrupted for 45 minutes.
- A quiet, private spot where you can work without distractions.
Student Assessment:
In Math, one of your first tutoring sessions will be used for an assessment in the form of a quiz that will allow us to identify any gaps in your prior learning experiences. In the vast majority of cases where a student has difficulties in his/her current grade, there lurks a past less than ideal teacher, some missed classes, and/or other experiences that are to blame. If we can identify such gaps, it will be very valuable to address them in order to restore your understanding and confidence.
There is no reason to be apprehensive about the assessment, and no need to prepare. The sole and private use of such an assessment is for us to deliver the most effective learning experience to you by dedicating a part of each session to rebuilding any gaps in knowledge.