Summer School Tutoring
Ahh, summer. Sun, sand, and surf. Pleasure reading. Iced tea
in the porch swing. Blockbuster movies and popcorn.
And, for many, condensed classes.
Yes, Summer: Making tough classes even tougher since 1827!
I realize that many of you who are employed at various
colleges around the country may not be tutoring right now. My own center here
at Redacted College, like those at so many other places, has been hit with
serious budget cuts such that we’re not even open right now, although our
summer term began last week. It’s a shame that students who are
dedicated/brave/naïve enough to sign up for concentrated classes like
trigonometry, English, or chemistry won’t get the chance to seek out extra help
in what may well be one of the most difficult classes they will ever take, but
alas. Here we are.
Those of you who are tutoring now (or who have tutored in a
compressed term like Summer, Winter, or other type of intersession), what do
you find yourselves doing differently under such stressful circumstances?
Summer sessions are high-stakes for those students fortunate enough to find a
class or two; my experience has been that the realization that one is in over
one’s head settles in much quicker in the Summer than it does in the regular
semester/quarter, leaving only the uber-dedicated ones to finish out the term
and complete their class(es). The pace is quick, and the burden is high. Do
students see you with different sets of expectations? Or maybe just a greater
sense of pressure? When you report to work, do you love the Summer or hate it?
How come?
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