Tutor view: a pandemic didn’t stop this tutor from logging over 200 hours in 2020!

Tutor Juli is one of the Literacy Council’s most prolific tutors! She supports students that work with our partner, Lakeshore Technical College, and currently works with three different students. With multiple students to prep and tutor for, Juli logged over 200 hours volunteering for the Literacy Council in the 2020-2021 year. WOW!

How did/does your career or life experience help you as a tutor?

Although I was as an educator for over 20 years, I don’t believe that one has to have formal teacher training to be an effective tutor, I do think we tutors are essentially “teachers.” My training and experience as a communications teacher have helped in the areas of pronunciation & enunciation, listening, relating to the student, encouraging and supporting.

What advice would you give to a new tutor?

Encourage your student to listen carefully to the English speakers around him/her, to seek out opportunities to speak English everyday, to never fail to speak out of fear of making a mistake. Enjoy your student and you will have some of the most fulfilling experiences of your life.

What’s your favorite teaching technique to use with a student?

My favorite technique is to encourage conversation. Most of the students lack the opportunity to speak English and consequently are very shy about speaking it. Learning the mechanics of doing it is not enough without practicing it every day. I spend a significant portion of every session in simple conversation.

In the photo, you can see Juli meeting virtually with her student, Renel G.

We have a new tutor training coming up in July 2021. Check out our Frequently Asked Questions page to learn more about what it means to be a tutor for the Literacy Council.