How Long Should Tutoring Sessions Be? Read Here!

How Much Time Should Your Tutoring Sessions Last?

Tutoring is an excellent way to get to know someone better. It helps people who are interested in learning more about themselves and their abilities.

How long should tutoring sessions last? Well, there isn’t a set amount of time that you have to keep your sessions.

If you’re tutoring someone over Skype or Google Hangouts, then you could easily spend anywhere between 15 minutes and an hour on a single session.

When a tutor is working with a student, they should only do so for a certain amount of time.

It’s impossible to say exactly what amount of time each session should end up lasting. However, most tutors find that 45-60 minute sessions produce good results.

There are certain things you’ll want to consider before spending too long in a session. For example, if you’ve been tutoring someone for an hour, stop because you’re bearing them.

Alternatively, you may have been tutoring someone for five hours straight. In these cases, cut off your session early in order to prevent boredom.

How many times a week should you tutor?

This depends entirely upon how much time you have available. You can see from above that you shouldn’t be doing this every day.

If you don’t have enough free time during the week, then try scheduling appointments once per month instead.

This will give you plenty of opportunities to meet new students without having to worry about running out of time.

You also needn’t restrict yourself to one-on-one tutoring either. Many teachers offer group classes where multiple students work together at once. This allows tutors to help everyone simultaneously.

So whether it’s one person per session or several simultaneous ones, make sure not to exceed 60 minutes.

Factors that affect tutoring sessions time

Besides what’s mentioned above, there are other factors that can determine how much time you need to give each session. These include:

• The type of material being taught.
• How well-prepared the student is.
• Whether or not the student needs additional practice.

If you’re looking to improve your own skills while tutoring, you may find that you don’t need as long as some individual student. However, this will depend on many variables.

For instance:

1) What level of skill does your subject require? This means that most subjects will take less time than ones where mastery requires special knowledge or experience for students needs.

2) Is the person you’re tutoring already proficient enough? You can use this question to gauge whether or not the student needs extra training.

3) Will you be teaching the same concepts again and again? If so, you won’t likely need as long as when you were first teaching those particular topics.

4) Are you using multiple methods to teach the topic? Some topics lend themselves to having several approaches available so that the tutor doesn’t repeat himself/herself unnecessarily.

5) Does the student understand the material? A lot depends upon whether or not the student understands the information given by the teacher.

6) Do you have questions regarding the material? While your job shouldn’t revolve around making sure the student knows everything, sometimes it’s best to ask questions to make sure that the student really knows something.

Note: It takes longer to communicate with new tasks students. So, if you haven’t worked together previously, you may decide to devote shorter sessions to ensuring that the lesson goes smoothly.

Tips to Teach Online effectively

When you decide to become a tutor, you have a couple of options.

You can either choose to work as a freelance tutor, where you work as a freelance tutor and provide tutoring services as a job, as a part of your regular job, as a part of your education, or as a part of your spare time.

Another option is to use the Live Lessons platform as a way for you to earn a living as a tutor regularly.

Live Lessons is a great place for tutors to teach, as it focuses on a very specific niche, and on a very specific type of student.

As we’ve seen above, effective online tutoring involves more than just sitting down and talking to people over Skype or Google Hangouts.

It includes things like finding good resources, preparing lessons, checking on the progress made by both parties, etc.

Here are some tips which may help you get started successfully:

• Create an effective schedule

Create a schedule beforehand. For example, you might be able to work on a lesson after lunchtime, but you’ll probably finish earlier because it would be too late to do anything else.

Make sure that you plan accordingly. It’s important to note here that you don’t always have to follow a strict timetable.

However, if you want to ensure that everyone gets their work done in due time, then establishing a set time frame is definitely advisable.

• Be clear about what each party expects from one another

Let the client know exactly how much time they should expect from you.

It’s easy to waste hours trying to find out why someone isn’t responding to your messages, only to realise that they thought you didn’t reply at all.

This is especially true if you’re providing live classes via video conferencing platforms such as Zoom.

In these cases, there are no visual cues between the two individuals, so you simply cannot rely on timing alone to keep track of how many minutes remain until the next session begins.

• Try being consistent

Tutors who are inconsistent lose clients. Therefore, try being consistent with keeping appointments with them. If you say you will meet up at 8 PM PT, then stick to this promise.   

If you miss deadlines regularly, clients won’t trust you anymore. They will assume that you aren’t reliable, and thus they will avoid doing business with you.

So, even though you might feel tempted to break promises occasionally, remember that consistency matters most.

• Have fun while teaching

Of course, you need to enjoy learning as well, otherwise it wouldn’t matter.

But, creating interesting content is also critical to attracting potential customers who are looking for quality service providers.

• Dress to impress

When meeting new students, dress professionally. This means wearing clothes that fit properly, making sure your hair looks neat, and putting on makeup before heading into class.

Your appearance should convey professionalism, and not just any old outfit will suffice. You must look professional.

• Use free software first

Before purchasing expensive software packages, consider using free alternatives.

In fact, you could save hundreds of dollars every year by sticking to something free instead of spending thousands of dollars on proprietary programs.

Choose a simple program to begin with. However, once you become familiar with its functions, you can expand upon those features later on.

• Take advantage of online resources

As mentioned above, the internet has made access to information easier than ever before. So use it wisely.

You shouldn’t spend more teaching time searching through multiple websites than actually studying for lessons or assignments.

Remember that Google doesn’t care whether or not you’re an expert; it cares about getting people’s results.

Therefore, focus on finding relevant answers rather than focusing on the amount of search terms used. Once you’ve found the answer, check back over the sources to see which ones gave you more accurate answers.

• Don’t forget to take breaks

Although working long hours is often essential in order to succeed in life, taking some tutoring time off now and again can do wonders for both your mental health and physical wellbeing.

Taking regular breaks helps reduce stress levels, increases productivity, boosts creativity, and improves overall moods. It also allows you to recharge your batteries and get ready to go back to work refreshed.

The best way to ensure you have enough rest during the day would be to set aside specific tasks each week where you don’t have to worry about anything except sleeping and relaxing.

Final Words

Your tutoring sessions need to be tailored to each client’s unique learning style and needs.

Ideally, you’ll want to spend a few sessions getting to know your student, and then using a personalised approach to continue their education.

If you’re a tutor, your long term students will thank you for going the extra mile.