<p>I'm currently tutoring a high school student for a standardized exam. My student has done very well in school and has very good "stats."</p>
<p>Anyway, I am having some trouble on how to approach tutoring. I was a lazy bum in high school, but I managed to get around an 88 average and a 1400 SAT score. This got me into a school that gave me a good financial aid package, and eventually had what I wanted to study. However, my student is one of those students that can ace an AP course, but not remember anything from it, or have claimed to have LEARNED anything from it. I think they aced the AP stats exam, but they do not remember the probability of two events taking place.</p>
<p>I am trying to toe the line between actually teaching and just being a drill instructor and giving them tons of problems. The way I came up in college, I wanted to prove to everyone, and most importantly myself, that I could do high quality work. So I went around to my department, begging them to take me on for research, even though I had only been in the department for barely a year and was behind in a lot of the requisite courses. They took me on, assigned me graduate books to read, and the only reality was: Get it done on your own, on time, I don't care how you do it.</p>
<p>So I'm having trouble adjusting to tutoring. My mentality was always, whatever they tell me to do, do that a week ahead and do the next section. My student is clearly very bright, very sharp, but I don't know if I should kick up the intensity level. I don't want to be the a-hole tutor, but what matters most is their score right? </p>
<p>I like to assign readings and a healthy problem set (50-60 multiple choice problems, this isn't too much IMO, considering that they are standardized exam questions). I also want to give weekly quizzes that aren't multiple choice, but more conceptual. I want to stress understanding the material and then being able to use the material to solve problems. </p>
<p>So for those of you that used tutors, what did they do well? What were they poor at? My student will be taking on a full plate this Fall as they are taking multiple AP courses, applying to colleges, taking standardized exams, etc. So I don't know how much work to give.</p>
<p>Any advice, points of view, etc. are greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>PS: I am very concerned for my student. I see a trend of knowing enough to get an A, but not really understanding the material. I completely get that they are high school kids and you cannot expect the same level of maturity from a high school than from a college grad. But I think this is a big problem. I want to teach in my own style, I like to stress fundamentals, basics, definitions, simple derivations of complicated facts.</p>
<p>I want to reverse this trend! I want to start teaching them, how to really study and understand material. However, I don't think I have the time to do this and I don't think it is appropriate for me as a tutor.</p>
<p>I just don't want to be a tutor that gets paid an exorbitant amount of money and does not teach the kid a damn thing. These parents are paying out of you know what because they want to do whatever they can to guarantee their kids future.</p>