The First Session: A Get to Know You Meeting

The First Session: The Various Ways Our Tutors Prepare for that Important Diagnostic and ‘Get-to-Know-You’ Meeting

Communication with families

Prior to first meeting their students, our tutors invest time and effort into learning about their needs, goals, interests and personalities through conversations with their families and teachers. Our tutors welcome the opportunity to review the curricula on which each of their students is focused, as well as student work and report cards as they are made available prior to the first session. Through their collaboration with families and schools, our tutors reflect upon the valuable information provided about each student in order to guide their plans for the first session and beyond. Math tutors will ask for problem sets, previous quizzes, and good grades and bad. Writing tutors will ask to see previously written essays and writing. Tutoring in Manhattan and Brooklyn—from the Upper East Side to Clinton Hill—requires intelligence, kindness, and preparation. Our tutors carefully consider the strategies to which each of their students is most likely to respond in order to support them socially, emotionally, and academically. Communicating with families prior to the first session allows our tutors to prepare in such a way that optimizes the level of student comfort and productivity during the first session, and ultimately results in increased confidence, independence, and student performance over time.

Finding common ground to build a relationship

Using the information provided by schools and families, our tutors focus on areas of student interest and strength in order to construct ways to engage and connect with students during the first session. In doing so, our tutors begin to build trust and instill in their students the confidence that they will offer support and encouragement in their continued work together. The establishment of a comfortable and amiable rapport in the first session allows for the immediate focus on areas of desired growth and progress. In finding ways to build a relationship with their students in the first session, our tutors know that their students will feel comfortable to share their strengths and approach topics of challenge, knowing they will be met with understanding, empathy, and support. Math tutoring in Tribeca will look different from writing tutoring in the Upper West Side. At NYC Teachers Who Tutor, our tutors are truly invested in the success of their students, and work to communicate their genuine care from the very first session.

Collecting materials

Based on the information received prior to the first session, our tutors gather the materials needed to support students in their studies. Due to the customization of tutoring to each student’s goals and needs, this may look different across a variety of situations:

1. Based on family requests, some tutors work to develop or supplement their student’s curriculum, in which case they construct and provide materials to facilitate learning during and in between tutoring sessions.
2. Our NYC tutors have the ability to informally and comfortably administer and analyze diagnostic assessments in order to determine student performance levels and target areas of strength and challenge. This information is used to drive instruction as students and tutors continue their work together beyond the first session.
3. While supporting students in studies occurring in school, our tutors prepare by collecting and reviewing materials used in the classroom. In familiarizing themselves with the specific material and methods of focus, our tutors ensure that they are best equipped to support their students as their first session begins.

Meeting students “where they are”

Our tutors prioritize providing quality support to their students in order to promote academic and personal growth, progress and success. In order to do so, tutors reflect upon the first session, along with the information provided by families and teachers to devise a plan to support student outcomes. NYC Teachers Who Tutor offers individualized, data-based instruction to its students, and considers each unique situation in order to provide students with opportunities for review and enrichment as they learn and grow. We constantly re-assess our students and build upon their strengths and areas for improvement.

Whether handwriting in Harlem, spelling in Seaside, decoding in Ditmus, comprehension in the Crown Heights, inferencing in Inwood, essay-writing tutoring on the East Side or creative writing classes in Kew Gardens, we make sure to tailor the work specifically to each child.