Meeting New Students by Paul Gregori

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We have lots of different types of students at Leading Learners, and they are all frustrated by something. Some students are good performers academically, but they are frustrated by not achieving perfection. Others are frustrated by relationships with instructors or with grading standards. Many are frustrated by the pace of the classroom, and waiting to get critical questions answered about assignments. For most students, these frustrations cause only small to moderate academic problems.

I work with students whose frustration has become anger. They refuse to participate and even sabotage their own education. These students are usually failing or almost failing several classes and need a drastic change in their academic habits.

When I meet a student, I make sure not to bring up their current frustrations. I immediately explain that working with me will not be like class, or like doing homework alone. We talk about their interests and get to know each other a little bit, and I tell them, “The company works for your parents, but I work for you. What do you want to get done in our meetings?” If they want to, I let them choose music for us to listen to and eat snacks.

We look at current assignments and I ask the student to give me a review-to-date for each class. Once we talk one-on-one about each class, the areas that need academic support are usually clear. I ask the student, “Of all the things we need to get done, what is the hardest? What is the easiest?” Then I have them choose where they want to start. Early on, especially with frustrating assignments, students try to take advantage of their control over the session and waste time. But, after the first few sessions, they realize how efficiently they can work and they stop avoiding it. When they start appreciating the use of our time, I begin discussing how to plan ahead for the next session and especially the next test. I sometimes make suggestions about how to talk to their teachers, and which specific questions they need to ask in class to complete work successfully.

During sessions I try to reference the course material as often as possible. I ask students if they remember the details of a certain question, if not, I ask if they know where to find the details in their sources. If they don’t, I find the specific passage, and will paraphrase or rephrase the point for the student as needed. I also insist on extra practice before moving on, usually with examples from the source at first. I add examples I think the student will relate to, and keep the tone of the meeting casual.

After we establish a routine, my day to day responses from students are still pretty varied. Sometimes they are happy and talkative, other days they are frustrated to have to meet me. They take every opportunity to talk about their interests, and I hear daily complaints about school, many I can relate to when I recall my years at High School. Each student has a different level of productivity after we reach a balance, but the students all expect that the majority of our time will be spent working, and I have never had a student not show up.

4 Comments

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  1. Sounds like your interactions with students are productive from the start! Maybe the focus of a child’s overall school experience is not on ‘work’ or ‘grades’. Students may be more interested in simple communication which can be lost in the typical classroom. Great work!!


  2. This is awesome. This is how tutoring/academic coaching should work.


  3. Awesome post! Keep up the great work. We need more people like you. Fort Collins is lucky to have an organization like yours.


  4. Paul, I am so impressed with this Blog – I know as a parent I would rush right over! Your tone is no doubt the tone you take with your students – interested, even-handed and open to their concerns.