"Mom, Dad, Help!"
Oh, my goodness! You hear these words 20 times during a lesson. Mom and Dad then come in and out like a revolving door at a New York hotel. Each time they do, of course, they are able to help, but they also cause a major disruption to your lesson. Your students don't know who is in charge or who should answer their questions.
The students get frustrated, and the parents get frustrated. Parents are often being pulled away from business meetings or taking care of their little ones who they're trying to entertain. You're also trying to get the lesson off in a successful direction. There's constantly "Mom, Dad, I need help", "I can't see her", " I lost my tools", "I dropped my snack".
Sound familiar?
Minutes for these students are so important, and it's an entirely different situation when you're not right next to the student. You want to give parents their time.
This week on the blog, I'm sharing some tips on how to get your students independent from the start and why it's so important.
How To Get Your Students Independent
Prevent Parent Participation
Ideally, you want your parents to be very hands-off during your lessons. But, let's face it, parents have had a tricky time with online learning. You love your parents, and they may not believe that it works. The parents feel they have to be very connected to the student to make it work. If you have a system in place, you'll be able to get your student independent, at least most of them.
Be Seen As An Authority Figure
You want to be seen as a teacher and a person for your student to ask questions to. If your student needs a restroom break, that's fine, but if the screaming across the room to tell Mom and Dad that they have to go to the bathroom interrupts the lesson, they soon become confused about who they're asking questions to.
Be Able To Give Parents A Break
Just like when you show up to teach at their house or they drop their student off in front of you for the private lesson, they still need a break. When you're online as a tutor, you should still be able to give this to your parents. They should still be able to continue with their business meetings, conference calls, or entertaining their little ones. But it all starts with how you get the students set up independently and connect to them so they respect you.
Replicate The In-Person Experience
If you replicate the in-person experience, you may have a better chance of connecting and engaging with your student so that they just don't walk away to see what Mom and Dad are up to. Students are going to be naturally curious when they're online, especially if a little one is watching a movie with Mom or Dad or doing schoolwork. Do you want them focused on your lesson? For that, you need them to be totally engaged.
Speaking of engaging with your students, here's a FREE Outdoor Play Game for you and your students. Grab it HERE! Let me know how you and your students enjoy it! Have a theme you would like to see in one of my games? Let me know in the comments, and I might just use it in a future activity or game.
Teach Them How To Find Their Tools
This final tip is one of the biggest things for getting your students independent and away from their parents. It's how they can use their tools independently. Spend a significant amount of time on this on the first day. To get students to reach their tools and know how to draw visuals, give them time to play on the whiteboard. Have fun with it, and sooner than later, your students will be independent from their parents.
Do you have some specific questions based on your individual teaching experiences? Hop on a FREE, 10-minute coaching call with me, and let's chat. Sign up HERE.
If you're ready to get even more questions answered about taking back control of your lessons, teaching with less tech, teaching struggling readers, or anything else, let's spend an hour together with your list of questions. Sign up for one-on-one coaching HERE.
April's full-demo workshop is right around the corner. Join me April 25 for Intro to Teaching on Zoom.
You will learn:
⭐️How to use video effectively
⭐️What settings are essential
⭐️What you need to take control of your lesson from the start
⭐️Behavior systems that work
Sign Up HERE!
Have a great week!
Michelle
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