Peer Tutoring Offered during Academy
September 28, 2018
Peer Tutoring is now available during Academy period in the multi-use room. Tutoring in English, Social Studies, and Foreign Languages will take place during Wednesday sessions while Friday sessions will concentrate on Math and Science.
English teacher Lauren Henson, who is currently a “Teacher on Special Assignment” for 1 period, organized the program. “With that, I’m focusing on Academy and intervention and kind of adding in more at school. Peer tutoring was something that was happening at the other schools, so we decided that that was something we should start here at Campolindo,” Henson said.
“It’s a question that’s come up for as long as I’ve been here,” said counselor Duane Magno. “I think that having the program not only fills a need, but it gives students 1 more resource during the school day so they can get help from a peer who is trained and strong in a certain subject.”
A group of 26 juniors and seniors serve as the peer tutors for the program. Some were recommended by teachers while Henson recruited others herself.
The select group was chosen from 55 potential candidates. Although they were all “great students,” said Henson, they wanted to start the program small and work up to larger numbers of tutors later. “Hopefully, the other students will be able to do it in the future, whether it’s semester 2 or next year,” said Henson.
“I chose to be a peer tutor because it sounded like a really fun way to help out other students and to share some things that have helped me succeed at Campo,” said senior Kate Hardiman, who is a designated math and science tutor. “I can help with Biology, Chemistry, AP Physics, Algebra, Honors Geometry, Honors PreCalc/Trig, and AP Calc AB. I can also help with English and history classes, too.”
Tutors were trained the week of September 10.
Students can signup for tutoring through the TeachMore website, and will be paired up with a tutor once they arrive at the Academy session. According to Henson, the ratio of tutors to students will be no more than 1:3, and the groups will be organized based on teacher, subject, or concept.
Students can “decide, ‘Oh, maybe this student had the teacher that I’m struggling with,’ or ‘I just need support in that particular class,'” said Henson. “[Students] can find a tutor that had that same teacher, so that’s another benefit.”
“Juniors and seniors are actual, experienced ‘Campolindians’, so they’ve experienced whatever the freshmen go through and whatever the sophomores go through. Peer tutoring will help academically, but also just [by being] a mentor in school life,” said sophomore Connie Kim.
Henson believes that the most helpful aspects of the program will be the different perspectives and the collaborative aspect. “You might have a teacher in class that’s really great at explaining a certain concept for a particular student, and maybe another student needs it explained in a different way. [Peer tutoring] allows you to have multiple perspectives,” she said, adding that the program functions so that the group of students can learn from each other as well.
Magno added that peer tutoring may make students feel more comfortable in asking for help. “They don’t quite know how to approach an adult, sometimes, and say ‘I’m struggling in an area.’ But, that’s an easier conversation for them to have with a peer,” he said.
“I’m excited for the program. I think that it fills an area that we’re always looking to improve upon, which is student success,” added Magno. “I think that it’s exciting to have older students who are strong that are enthusiastic about working with students, and I think there’s a lot of positive benefits that we’re going to see going forward.”
