Effective Tutoring and Teaching Requires a Pause
We give our students the instruction. We review the learning outcomes and success criteria. They know the expectations. During the lesson, we ask the questions to cue and guide thinking, but do we pause? Do we pause and give our students the space they need to think and develop the solution to their problem?
How many of us are guilty of jumping in when we see students sit with a problem? We jump in with more guiding questions and cues that create a runway to a solution. No thinking involved. We just showed our students that there was one way to the solution and it was our way. Like many teachers and tutors, I know I’m guilty of this.
Pausing after questioning requires teachers to reframe how they view the situation. How we see our students and their ability, and how we see ourselves and our role in the classroom. We need to stop and consider what preconceived ideas and beliefs we have about our students and our role as a teacher. Are we there to impart knowledge for our students to soak up? Are we a coach that guides students in the learning process? Are we somewhere in between? Do we view some students as capable and others of needing constant one-on-one guidance?
Pausing requires teachers to reframe how we see our students and our role in their education. It requires us to acknowledge that our students are able to develop unique solutions to a problem. It requires us to see our students as capable thinkers and learners.
Yes, some students will need more time and support. Plan for that.
When developing your lessons, plan for the contingencies, the extra time and support students need to finish. Can they continue working without disrupting their flow of thought? Do they need a timer to find a good stopping place so they can return to it later? When is later? If the student needs more one-on-one support, how can the assignment be broken down into accessible pieces that can be completed as independent parts of the whole? Breaking the assignment down into accessible pieces is a reasonable accommodation that will help not only those students with disabilities but also those students who just might need a bit more help. What about the students who finish quickly? Plan for additional challenges to extend thinking. Adding in these contingencies allows for independent thinking and learning, which has the added benefit of building students’ self confidence and seeing themselves as capable thinkers and learners.
Can the problem be more complex than what I described? Yes, but that does not absolve teachers from creating accessible instruction and assignments. It is important that our students have time to ponder, consider, examine and analyze a problem so they can work on solving it. This is part of a whole child approach. This is students first.
© 2025 Linda Patrell-Kim
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