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Administrator
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In our classrooms, virtual and in person, building rapport makes the experience fulfilling and productive for both student and tutor. We want this to happen! However, as trust and familiarity grow, conversations can sometimes veer away from the subject material. Some tutors may be comfortable learning about the personal lives of their tutees while others may prefer not to. Follow your own comfortability here. If an interaction ever makes you uncomfortable, there are many ways to handle it.
You may choose to kindly redirect the student back to what they are working on. "I'm so sorry that happened to you! Do you want to take or break? Then, if you are up for it, we can continue with the fractions."
You may want to confer with a site coordinator if information shared was concerning or outside resources maybe necessary. "Anne, my student shared that they lost their job and are looking for work."
Discreetly ask not to be paired with a student who crossed your boundaries. "The student I worked with asked for my phone number, I am just not comfortable with it."
We tell this to our students, too! Some students may not mind a overly verbose tangent about the material, but some might. Some may not mind learning about your personal life, but same may prefer not to. Students need to feel free to come to us with any misgivings they have about any interaction with a tutor or staff member. The goal is to have positive and fruitful classroom experiences for both tutors and students.
Please know, we appreciate you! You help make the Seeds of Literacy classrooms as welcoming and safe to people of all backgrounds and experiences.
What are some ways you handle tricky conversations in the classroom?
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