A Day in the Life of a Peer Tutor

A teacher is standing at the front of the class, and you’ve been instructed to walk around the room, helping other students understand. That is a typical routine of a peer tutor. Amelia Yager (11) peer tutors for Mrs. Sims’ Geometry class, and enjoys the work she does. 

“My favorite thing about peer tutoring is the friendships I’ve made with the students,” said Yager. 

Amelia likes the work she does, but the work that she does is hardly ever the same. It differs every lesson.

“Some days, my partner peer tutor and I help organize graded papers. Other days we move about the class answering any questions the kids may have on the assignment. It really does depend on the lesson for that day,” said Yager. 

Although this might seem like a block where peer tutors can do whatever they want, that isn’t true. In fact, they are graded strictly on various things. 

“I’m graded on… my attendance, my participation, my ability to bring creative ideas to the table, [and] my ability to problem solve,” said Yager. 

Tutoring your peers can be difficult because you want to have fun and spend time with your peers instead of helping them with schoolwork. Amelia voices how she feels about this. 

“Sometimes we have to remind the students that we are there to help during the class period we spend with them, instead of mess[ing] around,” said Yager. 

Because peer tutors and students really just want to have fun, peer tutoring might not be the ideal class for a lot of students. Amelia, however, still enjoys tutoring her peers. 

“Seeing their accomplishments during class, whether they be little or small, makes being a peer tutor enjoyable,” said Yager. 

After all, no matter what the assignment is, Amelia, along with many other peer tutors, wishes to help their peers succeed.