SMART Lunch Collaboration

The semester is up and running, and students are working diligently to learn the material. For many students, a concrete grasp of the material comes through attendance at multiple SMART lunch tutorials. During math tutorials, teachers are encouraging students to work together to practice the concepts and procedures. Educational experiences that are active, social, contextual, and engaging lead to deeper learning. 

Peer tutoring in Ms. Cox's classroom

Peer tutoring is a term that's been used to describe a wide array of tutoring arrangements. Most of the research on its success refers to students working in pairs to help one another learn material or practice an academic task. Often, students will be asked to switch roles so that the tutor becomes the one being tutored. If a student can explain how to complete a task, then the student has a clear conceptual understanding of the process. Two students can work together to help each other understand difficult concepts, while deepening their own knowledge of the subject. The teacher works as a facilitator, circulating throughout the room and helping and supporting pairs of students, while informally assessing student learning.