The Pandemic and How it Fueled a Tutoring Evolution
By Rusini Perera
It has been 18 months since the pandemic forced us to shut down our regular operations. During that time of panic and confusion, the previous Education Director and her team were able to come up with our online tutoring format. Within 2 months she had set up a website, a google classroom, as well as a tutoring committee in order to launch our tutoring services in a safe and effective manner. At the time, I was a freshman. I had joined GRMR just 2 months before and fell in love with the activities and the culture. The best part of working with GRMR, was meeting the students, and getting to know their different personalities. The community was so lively, and I felt happy there. There was a sense of fulfillment because I could see how the work I was doing was actually affecting the students. But of course, the pandemic completely changed this.
Pictures from past in-person tutoring sessions
Everything was online and that sense of connection was completely lost amid the rectangular screens of the students in my zoom classes. I knew it would be a difficult task to try to recreate that feeling of community, but I was willing to try. I joined the tutoring committee in the Summer of 2020 and my team and I were responsible for creating English lesson plans for Level C. It was difficult yet rewarding work and I learned so much by working in that team. We were churning out presentations one week and tutors would be using them in their lessons the next week. It was quite fast paced but when I look back on it, I am in awe of what we were able to accomplish in such a small amount of time.
While I was working on the committee, I was also a tutor. I tutored a young girl in the second grade and despite the virtual format, we got to know each other and form a relationship. I started to understand what her academic needs were and could tweak lessons to help her understand them more. I realized that despite the virtual format, I could still cultivate that sense of connection and fulfillment in my work.
Fast forward a couple of months, and the tutoring system had expanded to include science, as well as more adult-oriented lessons. I continued to work on the committee to expand these subjects and I wanted to further the work I did, so I applied to become the Director of Educational Services! This past summer I learned more about tutoring and how it was run, and I made many changes of my own. I edited past presentations and set up a new feedback form system. I also opened up applications to include international students. This was fueled by the recent military coup which has forced many students in Myanmar to stay at home rather than go to school or university. I received lots of feedback from my tutors about wanting to further their relationship with their students, so I introduced a Get To Know Me slide into the English presentations. This idea was actually suggested to me by a former tutor, so if you ever have any suggestions, don’t hesitate to tell me! This Get To Know Me slide really fostered stronger connections between students and tutors, which is quite difficult during the pandemic.
Pictures from virtual tutoring sessions
Now fall is starting and I am really excited to implement some new ideas, expand, and reimagine the way we do tutoring here at GRMR. I think these past 18 months has seen a real evolution in how we tutor, and I have seen a real change in myself as well. I started off as just a clueless freshman attending Saturday tutoring sessions and now, I am the Education Director who is leading the way through these strange times. I know that we have all changed during the pandemic and I hope that we can all continue to work towards our goals, even if the means to reach them have changed.
References
Zoom K-12 Education & Teaching Best Practices [Online image]. (2020). Rev. https://www.rev.com/blog/zoom-k-12-education-teaching-best-practices