- Shakopee Public Schools
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- Tutorials & TRF
Tutorials & TRF
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How a Tutorial Request Form (TRF) is completedAVID students must complete their TRF before attending tutorials.Students remember:10% of what they READ20% of what they HEAR30% of what they SEE50% of what they SEE, HEAR and SAY70% of what they DISCUSS80% of what they DO90% of what they SAY and DO
Therefore, if you are a student and the teacher/tutor only asks you to read something, you will likely remember only a tenth of it. If the teacher/tutor is telling you how to do something, you will likely remember only a fifth of it. If the teacher/tutor is showing you how to do something, you will likely only remember half of it.
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What is a tutorial?
Small group tutorial sessions are held twice a week during the AVID elective class. During tutorials, the AVID elective class is divided into small groups. Under the direction and supervision of the AVID elective teacher, an AVID-trained tutor facilitates the student-led discussions at each group to help students find the answer to a question, problem, project, and any other school-work related point of confusion they may have.
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What is the purpose of tutorials?
- Create deeper understanding of concepts covered in core content class.
- Develop skills necessary to become self-directed learners.
- It's not just homework help.
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What are the goals of the tutorial process?
- To push each other's thinking. AVID tutorials use an inquiry process.
- Tutors do not give the answers. They facilitate the groups' learning process.
- Tutors don't teach the answers. They ask more questions. This is called the Socratic method.
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How do AVID tutorials differ from traditional tutoring?
- All students must arrive at the tutorials prepared with pre-work completed and specific questions written in a Tutorial Request Form (TRF).
- If they believe they have no questions regarding any homework, school work, quiz, or test in any of their classes, they must still attend the tutorial with a completed TRF in which they ask a question that further explores the material they are studying in any of their classes.
- Questions are high level thinking questions.
- Students work and discuss in a collaborative group.
- Students reflect on their own participation in the groups and on how the group worked together.
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Why are collaborative groups, such as the small group tutorials, important?
- No one knows everything.
- Teachers expect analysis, synthesis and evaluation of subject matte.
- Students will move faster and remember more when working together.
- It teaches them how to work with others which they will likely have to do in college, such as in study groups, and in their career fields in the future.
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Why are the students' written questions important?
The skill of asking questions is fundamentally different from the skill of answering them because waiting to answer a question is a passive process. Asking a question is an active process and changes a student's relationship or connection to the material.AVID bases the design of these student written questions on Costa's Levels of Questions, which show the different levels of questions and the cognitive processes related to each level. Level 2 and 3 questions create a much deeper connection to the material than level 1. -
What are Costa's Levels of Questions?
Level 1 questions - These questions can be answered by facts contained in the document or text or by information accessible in other resources; generally short answers.Level 2 questions - These questions have answers that are implied by the text; requiring analysis and interpretation of specific parts of the document or text being examined.Level 3 questions - These questions are much more open-ended and go beyond the document or text being examined. They are intended to provide a discussion of an abstract idea or issue.Here are some possible terms that students can use to develop different levels of questions.
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
define
analyze
apply
describe
compare
evaluate
identify
contrast
hypothesize
list
group
imagine
observe
infer
judge
recite
sequence
predict
scan
synthesize
speculate
Know the stepsAs you've seen in the videos, part of writing the Tutorial Request Form and presenting at tutorials involves writing the steps taken to answer a question, solve a problem or perform a task. Why is it important to know the steps to do anything at all? Here is one way an AVID elective teacher can conduct a unique class activity that taught students the importance of providing, following and understanding steps.Articulating steps in a processThe students do a collaborative activity to help them learn how to articulate the steps they take in their pre-work inquiry before tutorials so they can demonstrate more specifically what they tried and how they get to the "AHA moment" during Socratic questioning.
First, the teacher model the need for specific steps. She asks the students to provide her with the steps she needed to learn how to make a sunflower butter sandwich. She shows the class that simply being told to "1. Put the sunflower butter on the bread and 2. Eat it" do not work for someone who does not know the basics of the sandwich making process.
Students then ask the teacher questions just as they do during tutorials so she can clarify her point of confusion and determine the exact steps needed to complete the process.
Next, students work together to complete a task and articulate in writing a list of steps for someone to follow to complete a particular task. Each member of the group has a different role based on what the teacher thinks (or what formative assessment data shows) they need to work on to improve the tutorial process.
Here is a list of the tasks the students are given based on items that are available in the classroom.
Divide into groups:
1. Put on Guatemalan clothing correctly and culturally appropriately.
2. Set up the easel for tutorials.
3. Look up “berenjena” in the dictionary and translate the word to English.
4. Set up Bingo for a group of 4 to play.
5. Organize your AVID binder.
Roles:Writer - Records the steps as the doer completes them (CANNOT SPEAK or DO but may nudge asker if he/she needs a question asked to write the steps better)
Asker - Asks questions to ensure no step is missed and the do-er can complete the task with the instructions written by the writer (CANNOT WRITE or DO)
Doer - Completes the task with the direction of the group and articulates out loud what steps they are taking (CANNOT SPEAK but can nudge the asker if he/she feels there is a need for an additional step articulated by the director)
Director - Guides the doer through the process to complete the task and ensures each step is recorded by the writer, the asker is asking questions and the doer knows what to do based on the steps
Through this activity, the students learn that they need to give precise, detailed steps to their peers so they can successful complete a task. Giving broad, general, vague or too few steps does not work. This lesson can be applied to writing the steps on their Tutorial Request Form and tutorial presentations. If students write down precise, detailed steps, they can then later use these steps in studying, answering a similar question, or solving a similar problem in the future. It also helps them gain a better, deeper understanding of a topic or subject they are studying.
