How does online Calculus tutoring work?
Students can use writing tablets so their writing appears on the screen. Online sessions are just like face-to-face sessions!
I admit it. I was skeptical of online tutoring in the beginning, after only teaching and tutoring face-to-face. Could it be as effective as in-person tutoring? Would I be able to build rapport with students without being face-to-face?
I first tutored online because it was the only option—a friend of mine had gone back to college and was desperate for math help but lived in a different state. I never would have been able to help him had online technology not existed.
Immediately I was able to see that online tutoring was different from in-person tutoring.
No one had to worry about being late with traffic, students were more relaxed in their own home, and we were able to accomplish more in an online tutoring session than an in-person tutoring session.
With the interactive whiteboard and screen share features that Zoom offers, I can easily pull extra problems from online resources. The online tutoring setting allows me to copy new problem sets or change the direction of the lesson instantly as I am observing a student either struggle or excel in the planned lesson.
If students have a worksheet or textbook problems they want to work on, they can take a picture and email it to me. We can annotate instantly. Furthermore, I am able to send a PDF of our session notes and/or videos of the lesson so students can review the topics again later.
I also noticed improved communication and math language/vocabulary in my online students. They had to explain the problem-solving steps clearly instead of pointing and saying, “We do the same thing as this problem.” This dialogue led to a deeper understanding because students explained why they chose a certain problem-solving process.
We provide students with a writing tablet, if they are interested, in order to write on the whiteboard. This allows the tutor to see the student's notation and problem solving process, just as if the tutor was sitting next to the student.
After realizing online tutoring was just as effective as in-person tutoring for building rapport with students and helping them achieve their goals, I knew I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. I wanted to be able to reach students in different cities, states, and even countries.
As your online Calculus tutor, you can expect to receive homework help, AP Calculus exam preparation, and continuous review of previously learned content so it remains fresh in your mind all year.
If you want to see another sample video lesson for online Calculus tutoring, see how I plan sessions.