As some schools close in the upcoming weeks for winter break, many across the nation remain closed since March.
Studies suggest that parents are struggling to balance working from home and helping their children with online school and daycare due to the pandemic.
This past semester IU’s School of Education offered a virtual tutoring program to help alleviate challenges students and parents face.
The program paired Indiana K through 12 public school students with IU education majors. The students could meet with the college tutors up to twice a week for thirty minute sessions.
Around 135 families registered for the program. Parents signed up their students on the IU School of Education’s facebook page. Bloomington public schools also offered the program during the day. The IU education tutors said they suggested what grades they preferred to work with but were randomly paired with the students.
The tutors planned out their sessions in advance based on the information teachers and parents provided.
IU tutor and junior Madison Pittman explains W200, a vital course to prepare future educators to teach with technology.
Before volunteering in the program, the tutors took W200 which taught the tutors how to beneficially use technology in their teaching.
Since the program is via Zoom, the tutors navigated around technological difficulties that they also face as IU students taking classes online.
“I’m in the same boat, and I have been struggling with the online platforms and technology isn’t always super reliable,” IU tutor Madison Pittman said.
The tutors also used free online tools to help teach such as Jamboard created by Google. Jamboard functions as a whiteboard and allows other tutors to collaborate together. They also used Youtube videos and PDFs to keep up student engagement.
“The School of Education really has prepared us for pretty much anything,” Pittman said.
In previous semesters, the tutors met the students at their schools for in-field experience. IU tutor Katie Brammer said it’s difficult having to teach a student to read when you can’t see their lips move or facial expressions.
“It’s…challenging to just understand, hear what they are saying and then also getting them to feel comfortable,” Brammer said.
Brammer is currently helping her student to learn how to read. She uses books with topics about the student’s interest to keep them entertained.
Tutors used methods they learned in their courses to help teach the K through 12 students. Brammer said she noticed small improvements in her student’s reading.
The program ended before Thanksgiving break, but the School of Education plans on offering the tutoring program again next semester. Registration and information will be available sometime in January on their Facebook page.
