The world of online tutoring is an exciting place, full of opportunities for you to engage with students and help them succeed in their studies. Start your journey on the right foot by preparing for your first online tutoring session. It's perfectly natural to feel nervous before your first session. To help ease your jitters and ensure your first tutoring session goes smoothly, we've created a cheat sheet full of tutor tips and tricks that you can use during your preparation.

Explore our demo lesson space

TutorMe's interactive Lesson Space is easy-to-use and loaded with advanced learning tools to make your job easier and more enjoyable. Familiarize yourself with the different Lesson Space features by playing around in the Demo Lesson Space. Try out the whiteboard and all its various writing and drawing tools. Become acquainted with the calculator tool, the text editor, and code editor. You can also see how to quickly and easily upload files using the File Sharing feature. The Google Docs tab allows you to launch a new Google Docs page, Google Sheets, or Google Slides right from our interface.

Take notes as you play around with the features and tools, so you can refer to them later and feel more confident during your first session.

Find your preferred tutoring space

Online tutoring allows you to work from anyplace. Find a spot that is comfortable and convenient for you. For example, some of our tutors work from their home office, bedroom, den, kitchen table, or living room couch. Some tutors work from a private study room at a local library. It's important that your tutoring space is quiet, comfortable, and equipped with everything you need to support your students.

If you are working in a shared space, be sure to inform the people in your area that you intend to tutor. Ask them to keep noise levels to a minimum, so you and your students can concentrate.

Ensure your internet connection and computer is secure and reliable

TutorMe is 100% online, which allows you to work anywhere that allows you access to a computer and internet connection. You will be dependent on your online presence while you are tutoring, so it's crucial to ensure that your computer and internet work perfectly. Also test out your accessories, such as headphones, camera, and mic.

If your preferred tutoring space has spotty internet connection, you should search for a different space with better internet. The last thing you want is for your tutoring session to stop abruptly because you lost connection.

We recommend that you keep your computer updated with the latest software and security updates. Privacy is a big deal to us. It's very important that you keep your computer locked when you are not using it.

Develop a rough plan for your first session

Some of your nerves might be coming from the fact that you don't know what your first session will be like. Because TutorMe is an on-demand online tutoring platform, you don't have to schedule sessions in advance. This kind of flexibility is great for both tutors and students. It allows you to tutor when you are available, and students can find tutors whenever it's most convenient for them.

Even though you don't know who you will be tutoring first, it's still a good idea to have a rough plan in mind before you begin your first tutoring session. For example, you can plan your introduction to your student. It should be warm and friendly, briefly chatting with your student to get to know them and their academic needs. Plan to ask your student which Lesson Space tools they will use, or ask if it's okay to use the tools that you want to use.

You can structure your first tutor session to include your introduction, learning more about your student's needs, the meat of the lesson, asking your student for feedback on what they learned, and any closing encouragement you can offer. Consider making a list of helpful feedback you can offer during a session. Specific feedback related to the lesson is best, but sometimes you can use more general phrases, such as:

• That's coming along nicely.
• You are very good at that.
• That's quite an improvement!
• You're almost there.
• You're on the right track.
• Good thinking.
• You worked that out very quickly.

Having a handful of encouraging phrases to say prevents you from saying "Good job" twenty times during the lesson.

Brush up on your knowledge

Reviewing key material in your subject of expertise will help you feel more confident and knowledgeable. However, you shouldn't feel obligated to read an entire textbook before your first session! Relax, brush up on some key points, and remind yourself why you enjoy this subject.

The TutorMe blog contains a number of fantastic articles for you to read. You'll get invaluable advice for online tutoring best practices. For example, you can learn strategies for keeping distracted students focused, ways to help students gain confidence, and the importance of effective feedback during your tutoring session. Your tutoring approach will improve the more you learn about online tutoring and the more practice you get using TutorMe.

In addition to reading the articles, consider talking to other tutors or friends who have online tutoring experience. They can provide you with valuable first-hand tutor advice on how to have a successful first session.

Get ready, get set, go tutor!

Preparing for your first tutoring session can help you get over the initial nervousness. When you have your computer ready to go, you are in a quiet and comfortable work space, and you have everything you might need to help your students, then it's time to take the plunge and make yourself available to students. You are an expert in your preferred subject matter, which means you have knowledge to impart to students who are struggling in school. Online tutoring is an excellent way to reach out and make a positive difference in students' lives.

Are you ready? Then let's go! Log into your TutorMe account and begin tutoring. We are confident that you're going to do a great job!

If you are still considering joining the TutorMe network of expert online tutors, please apply now and embark on your tutoring journey with us.