Tutoring, whether online or private offline tutoring, can be immensely rewarding for those who love sharing their knowledge, skills, and expertise with others.
If you’ve been considering taking on tutoring jobs, then now is the time to do it. There have never been as many tutoring opportunities as they are today. Tutors have a slew of options to choose from.
Before you set on becoming a tutor, you need to understand exactly what a tutor does, so as to know what is expected of you.
What is a Tutor?
A tutor, also known as a private instructor, is an individual who is an expert in a given subject, skill, or field and is hired by students (or their parents and guardians) to help them better understand the concepts in question.
Modern tutors work with students of all levels, from Kindergarten through Highschool and college, and the scope isn’t limited to academics only. Today, you can almost tutor on any skill that you have.
To qualify as a tutor, you need the bare minimum of these essential tutoring skills:
- Topical mastery
- Patience and Understanding
- Tutoring methodologies
- Creativity
- Executive functioning skills
- Adaptability
- Communication skills
- Education Tech
Most of these skills are perfected over time, so don’t worry if you are lacking in some. Of importance is that you know your subject well enough to explain it to a sixth-grader without breaking a sweat.
What Does a Tutor Do?
A tutor works with students outside classroom settings to help them master academic concepts, prep for exams, or learn a new skill either online via virtual learning platforms or through in-person tutoring sessions. These sessions may be private where a student works with a student at a time, or group sessions where the tutor runs small group tutoring sessions, often consisting of 2-5 students.
What is the Role of a Tutor?
Your role as a tutor includes:
- Tutoring students on a one-to-one basis or in smaller groups to help them better grasp concepts.
- Developing tailored or personalized tutoring techniques and materials for the individual learners
- Help students with their projects
- Improve the academic performances of their students
- Helping students with challenges such as self-confidence, stage fright, communication, reading, and public speaking.
- Instilling the love for learning in students
- Teach students the habits and behavioral patterns they need to become lifelong learners.
- Foster creative thinking
Types of Tutors
There are many types of tutors but the majority are based on the subjects that they teach.
Types of Tutors – Based on Education Levels of Students
- Pre-school tutors / Pre-K Tutors
- Elementary school tutors
- Middle school tutors
- High school tutors
- College tutors
Types of Tutors – Based on Tutoring Subjects (Specialty Subject Tutors)
- Math tutors
- Science tutors
- Chemistry tutors
- Biology tutors
- Language tutors
- Social Studies tutors
- Business Studies tutors
- Computer Studies tutors
- Physics tutors
- History tutors
- Geography tutors
Types of Tutors – Based on Skills
- Writing tutors
- Music tutors
- Art tutors
- Tech and Coding tutors
- Drawing tutors
- Public speaking tutors
- Reading tutors
- Guitar lessons tutors, etc
Types of Tutors – Languages
- English tutors
- French tutors
- Mandarin tutors
- Spanish tutors
- German tutors
- Arabic tutors
- Portuguese tutors
- Russian tutors
- Japanese tutors
- Hindi tutors
- Italian tutors
Types of Tutors – Test Preps
Test-prep tutors include:
- SAT tutors
- ACT tutors
- PSAT tutors
- AP tutors
- TOEFL tutors
- IELTS tutors
- ESL tutors
- SSAT tutors
Types of Tutors – Based on Specialty Topics (College Level)
- Javascript tutors
- React tutors
- Organic Chemistry tutors
- Calculus tutors
- Statistics tutors
Other Types of Tutors
- English as Second Language ESL tutors
- Special education tutors
- Test-prep tutors
- Peer tutors
- Online tutors
Where to Find Tutoring Jobs from Home
There are several online tutoring jobs websites that pay you to teach on their platforms and include:
- Outschool
- Magic Ears
- Cambly
- Wyzant
- Skooli
- Tutor.com, etc.
Should You Become a Tutor?
Now that you’ve known what a tutor does and the types of tutoring options you have through this guide on what does a tutor do, the next question to ask is whether becoming a tutor is right for you. And it’s not just about making that extra $45 an hour as a tutor, but whether this is something you’d enjoy doing and building a career out of it.
Other Benefits of Tutoring for Tutors
Being a tutor comes with benefits such as :
- Heightened sense of competency and adequacy as a tutor
- Pushes you to strive for mastery
- Increases subject-specific and general knowledge
- Have you self-actualized knowing that you’re doing work that matters
