ISTE Journal 422C "Inspiring Students with Peer Tutoring"

There is a type of magic that happens when children teach other students. It is like a spark; it is a flash of something amazing that you may miss if you aren’t paying attention. In the article, “Inspiring Students with Peer Tutoring,” the author, Brandy Smith, details the important benefits of peer tutoring and gives educators a “how-to.” Smith discusses her experience with Peer Tutoring, where she mentored “Tech Kids,” as she called them, to teach other kids at the school. The Tech Kids were not always the best students either, it was the students who were ‘at risk.’ So how did she manage to pull it all off? Magic. Well, she pulled it off with the magic of good teaching.

      I like that Smith picked the students who had not yet experienced leadership positions. I often think about how to involve my students with behavior problems in a positive way. Specifically, I think about my students with behaviors that are clearly attention-seeking. What a great way for those students to experience attention in a positive environment! The other students she picked were the shy, withdrawn ones. These are the students who I would see to be more difficult to open up with a crowd actually, but I see the benefit. Also, we could always have them be a peer tutor in a small group or in a 1-to-1 setting.

         In my own classroom, I have always notice the benefit of having students do the teaching. I have always learned that you learn concepts better when you teach them to someone else, so this seems to be the perfect idea! Since many of my students are Freshmen, it would be hard for them to tutor younger students (unless we did a field trip to another school), but I still think I will be able to manage this within my own classroom. This article encompasses the NETS standard of “Promote and Model Digital Age Responsibility and Citizenship.” By training students to work as the models, this educator was demonstrating how to appropriately be a good citizen and a good role model!
Smith, B. (2006). Inspiring students with peer tutoring. Learning & Leading with Technology, (17)4, 18-21.