Setting Tutoring Goals

Goal setting is an important part of the tutoring process. It is a practice that not only helps the tutee realize what he or she needs to accomplish, but it also helps you lay out your session time.
Having goals that you and your tutee agree upon can mean the difference between aimless wandering through a subject, and a clear path towards an achievable accomplishment. Trust me, sessions always go more smoothly, and more successfully, if there are goals established ahead of time.
So how do you get started? And how do you keep the momentum going once the goals have been met?
Here are 5 easy steps towards creating, meeting, and maintaining goals during tutoring sessions.

Step 1) Define the goals.
During your first tutoring session together, list 2-5 goals that both of you agree can be accomplished in a set amount of time. This may be 5 goals to meet by the end of the semester, or 2 goals that can be met in one month's time.
The trick to this is to make sure that the goals are realistic and achievable. You don't want to set goals that are impossible to reach - this will leave your tutee feeling frustrated and will make your sessions a lot less enjoyable.
An example of a goal list may look a little something like this:
a) Learn how to add and subtract fractions by the end of the semester.
b) Get a B+ or better on my next test (test will be in 5 weeks).
c) Raise my class grade.
Step 2) Put together a quick list of how each goal will be met.
Will your tutee put in an extra 20 minutes of homework time every night? Will your tutee form a study group at school, or do a few extra exercises from the book? The trick to step 2 is to make your tutee accountable outside of your tutoring sessions together. Make sure that he or she knows that tutoring is just one part of the puzzle, and that a bit of extra work (besides the tutoring) might be needed to raise his or her grades.

3) Assess your tutee's goal progress every few weeks.
I have found that by looking over my tutee's goals every 2 weeks, I can get a good idea of whether or not things are moving in the right direction. If my tutee is on the right path towards grade improvement, and is putting in the extra effort, then I offer praise and encourage my tutee to keep up the great work.
If I notice that my tutee is struggling a bit with the extra work, or that he or she doesn't seem to be taking the goals seriously, I still offer support and encouragement. I make sure that my tutee knows that every small step will eventually lead to success even though the goal may seem far away at the time.
4) Sometimes a tutor needs to redefine and make some changes.
If a goal winds up being a little out of reach for my tutee, sometimes I will reassess the situation, and my tutee and I will redefine the goal. For example, my tutee may want an A in his or her class, but I realize that an A is just not possible by the end of the semester. Sometimes the points just do not add up, and earning an A on the final may only be enough to move the tutee up to a B+.
In this case, I encourage my tutee to work hard and strive for the A on the final. Earning a B+ is still a great improvement on the original grade for the class, and this has now become a much more achievable goal.
5) Remember to encourage.
Whether or not goals are met, encouragement and support are important elements in any tutoring session. Your tutee needs to know that his or her work is not going unnoticed, and that there are benefits to the extra effort. A quick, "Great job on that last test," or a "Don't worry about it, we'll do some extra work on fractions and your next test will be even better," can go a long way in making a tutee feel like continuing his or her learning efforts.
Goal setting, and goal meeting, are key aspects of the tutoring session. Goals benefit both tutors and tutees and can make sessions go from tolerable to enjoyable. Give these steps a try and watch your tutee take on the new tutoring challenges with pride. For even more information about goal setting, check out your ITA textbook!