Treat the Online Classroom Like a Real Classroom

The online classroom is a real classroom.

But we are learning from the comfort of our home and behind the computer screen, so it is going to be a little more on the relaxed side. That is perfectly fine.  However, sometimes there is a tendency to not respect the learning space.

If you are using an online teacher or tutor for your child, you may not be able to have a room where that child can work without interruptions. Try to at least find a space that presents fewer interruptions and distractions. To allow your child to tutor while people are going in and out of the room, having loud conversations, or even having the TV blaring is not going to get your money's worth for that session.

Some parents may not want their child online with a tutor in a room they can't monitor the student. As a parent, I can totally understand that. I would want my child in the same room with me too. But I have had parents who did so, but continued to bang pots and pans while cooking or carry on very loud conversations with other people in the room.

Situate your student so no one can walk behind him and be seen on camera. This can help create more of a classroom feel for the student. It also prevents people from being a distraction walking around in the background. I recently had an adult walk behind the student, wearing only underwear. This was neither respectful to the classroom, nor my retinas.

That brings me to this point: the camera and microphone pick up far more than the family may realize. Just be aware of that, please. The tutor does not want to hear all of your dirty laundry or see it either.

Teachers are not off the hook on this either. I have seen teachers show up for their sessions in the most unprofessional way. Please know that "work from home" is not synonymous with "unprofessional". Teachers should be modestly dressed in their sessions. I did have to ask one teacher to stop wearing a sports bra to her online sessions. She was not aware of how it looked on camera and quickly complied. I even had a male teacher show up for his interview while in bed. Yes, that will make parents feel very comfortable indeed. Teachers need to make the online classroom as distraction-free as possible. The student did not pay for a session to watch the teacher answer her cell phone, text, or talk to her fur babies.

Keeping the relaxed setting for online learning is a definite must. But let's not get carried away.

Happy online learning and teaching!

Using Word Problems? Make 'em Real!

I was closing out a session. We only had fewer than five minutes left. It was not enough time to start another activity, but yet, I wanted to spend a little more time with this student. She had just answered a question correctly that dealt with order of operations. She cheered and started singing, "Aw, Freak Out!" We talked about how that was an old song, yet, Miss Julia hates to refer to it as old since she was a young girl when it came out.
"Really???"
I could tell I had her attention.
I decided to use those spare moments with a quick word problem.

Use a word problem that is of interest to the student!

You Know You're An Online Tutor When...

...you keep an internet speed log!

Slow internet can really disrupt the learning environment. Most clients don't think they have any internet speed issues...until they try to use a LMS software for online tutoring. Most programs require a pretty strong upload speed. I have not found the download speeds to be much of a factor in the session, but you will need a good upload speed.

One way I tell my clients to test theirs out is to have them stream a movie in Netflix and while the movie is running, have them do a speed check. You can easily do that at www.speedtest.net. If the upload speed is more than 2.0 Mbps, then you will be fine to use online tutoring.

If it is a speed less than that, you can still use online tutoring, but may need to do a few tweaks. One, try hard-wiring your computer directly to your internet. If you don't want to try that, then during the session, don't have anyone else using the Wi-Fi. Also, if it works for your student and teacher, you can keep the camera off, which will help.

I keep my laptop wired directly to the internet so my end of the connection is never a problem– hopefully! I was with one internet provider who could not give fast, consistent speeds. Which is why I started keeping my own log. I do like to keep this log, even though my speeds are usually not an issue with this new provide. The main reason why is so I can make sure if there is a technical issue, I can look back on my log to make sure my speed wasn't the issue.

Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is really important for students, especially in the elementary grades. If we don't take the time to make sure they understand what they have just read, then we are wasting their time.

Reading comprehension isn't just an academic skill. It is a LIFE skill.

Your child is going to be an adult, surrounded by language, and needs to be able to understand that language to be successful in life. Think about the things you do as an adult that require you to understand what you have read: job application, income taxes (ugh), insurance policies, mortgage papers, credit card applications.

Those are just a few! How about instructions to learn how to fix something or put it together? If you are a Christian, how about understanding what you read in the Bible?

I enjoy working with elementary students in the area of reading comprehension! I like to cover many concepts of reading comprehension. Here are some of the concepts I cover:

• being an active reader
• main idea/implied main idea
• supporting details
• context clues
• drawing conclusions
• sequencing events
• following dialogue
• author's purpose

There are more concepts I cover, depending on what the student needs from the reading comprehension class. If you would like to know more about what I offer, please contact me at tutorjuls@gmail.com.

My class is done online, so it is convenient and safe! I can offer flexible hours. In case you are wondering if online tutoring would work for your child, please contact me and we can talk about it. If I think online education would not be a good fit for your child, I'll tell you. If you are home schooling your child, consider using this class as part of your school day!