1. Use social media to make better connections with your students.

• Teaching is first and foremost about communicating ideas. If you are not communicating effectively, you’re not teaching. Students may feel more comfortable asking a question on Twitter than they would during a class session, especially if the session features more than one student. Social media also gives your tutees a way to get in touch with you outside of your sessions, which is something they will definitely appreciate. Do not, however, follow your clients or tutees on Facebook because that can feel like crossing a line. Twitter is a far better place for bridging the gap between the academy and the student between sessions. If you need help, be sure to check out Twitter University.

2. Use the internet to research your topic the same way as your tutees.

• If you want to know what your students are learning before they show up for their sessions, you should not just work with the teachers they already have in school (which can go a long way toward landing you a school placement in the future). You should also try to navigate the web the way your tutees would. The days of learning simply via traditional books are over. You learned that as you worked on your credential and while you were student teaching. Today’s students are more likely to go to YouTube to learn the proper use of semicolons than they are to try to make sense of Strunk and White. Even I find myself checking out sites like Grammar Girl on occasion. They might know a different set of right answers than the ones you were prepared to teach. If you understand their learning sources, you’ll be better able to help them raise their grades.

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