Here are some of the points from the Delaware County Community College Website I think should be taken particular notice of:
Always allow at least 5 seconds of wait time after asking a question. Do not become the answer giver.
If there is no response after five to ten seconds of wait-time, you might want to do one or more of the following:
* repeat the question;
* rephrase the question;
* simplify the question;
* break the question down into its component parts;
* make your question more specific;
After each of the above alternatives, it is recommended that you allow another 5-10 seconds wait- time.
Other important things to remember are not to interrupt others or finish their sentences (don’t we all do that!)
This website also has this to say about listening:
Active listening is a method of responding to another that encourages communication.
Listening is a very important skill, especially for tutors. Many tutors tend to talk too much during a tutorial session. This defeats the purpose of tutoring, which is to allow students to learn by discussion. Rather than turning the session into a mini-lecture, tutors must actively listen and encourage their students to become active learners. Giving a student your full attention is sometimes difficult because you start to run out of time, or you find yourself thinking about your next question; however, the time you spend actively listening to your student will result in a quality tutoring session.
Here is another self quiz on your listening skills. The list of questions gives you an excellent guide to how to be a very good listener. If you can answer ‘always’ to every question you are a great listener.
Watch this short video of a student describing his Peer Tutor from last year. What important qualities did he have and what did he do to aid his relationship with this student?
Add any further thoughts or suggestions about communication to the comments for this posting.
Good comments on the active listening, but I think the questionairre was only OK. Questionairres like this can be very easily manipulated.
One thing that hasn’t been included in here is that active listening requires the tutor to be able to gauge what the student knows, what their opinions/views are and what they want from the tutor. Questions like; “What do you think about…?”
“Have you considered…. as an alternative viewpoint?”
Laurie
A very clear and concise piece.I especially liked the quiz on Listening.Good tutoring services are rare on the internet and This one has helped me get a better idea of the concept of Active Listening with regard to tutors.
There’s good advice in this post, and the tutor in the video sounds terrific – “wonderful”, “kind”, “considerate”, not slow to communicate and focussed on reinforcing the basics. A great model for us all.
The tutor in the video was very good-kind and considerate. This helps the student to feel more at ease. The tutor was very focussed and it was great the way he re-inforced some basic points. Watching this video gives one an idea of a near perfect ,odel of a tutor.