Small Group Sessions
As a Yipiyap, another part of your role may be to run small-group tuition sessions. These sessions allow you to reach multiple students at once, providing them with targeted support while encouraging collaboration and confidence. However, managing a group can come with its own set of challenges, from making sure your lessons cater to each individual need to ensuring all students are engaged. This article will walk you through the essential steps to run successful small group sessions at your placement!
Understanding Your Role in a Group Setting
What should you expect?
Group Sizes: Small group sessions typically involve up to six students, to allow for a balance between personalised attention and collaborative learning. If you're ever uncomfortable with the group size and are asked to support too many students, communicate with your Regional Director (RD) and they will offer their advice.
Session Planning: You may be asked to plan your own session based on the specific needs of students/curriculum, which we’ll look at in more detail further down the article. Alternatively, you might be required to take a group out of a larger class to work in a more focused, smaller setting. Here, you will be reinforcing the material covered in class or addressing specific challenges/gaps that the students are facing.
2. How do you maintain a positive working environment?
Facilitator and Mentor: In small group sessions, your role extends beyond just delivering content. You’re also a facilitator, guiding discussions, encouraging student interaction, and ensuring that everyone has a voice. Additionally, you act as a mentor, helping students develop not just academically, but also socially and personally.
Encourage Collaboration: A successful group session depends on creating a collaborative atmosphere where students feel comfortable sharing and learning from each other.
Respectful Interaction: Whilst you are not expected to deal with behaviour management, you should set clear expectations for respectful behaviour and manage group dynamics effectively to reduce disruptions.
3. How do you maintain professionalism?
Liaise with teachers: Maintain clear communication with subject teachers to stay aligned with the curriculum and understand each students’ needs. Share any relevant observations or concerns about students’ progress.
Punctuality and preparedness: Always be on time and well prepared for each session. You should demonstrate a professional attitude and respect for the school’s (and Yipiyap’s) policies and procedures.
Planning An Effective Group Session
So you’ve been given your groups and you’re ready to start planning for your sessions, what elements should you consider? From the structure and timings, to how to cater for each individual learner, here’s what you should think about when planning.
Structuring The Session
As always, it’s good to split your session up into 3 parts. An intro, main task and a wrap-up activity, How would you apply this to a group setting?
Introduction (5-10 minutes)
Warm up: Start with an activity to assess the group’s understanding of the topic. This could be a brainstorming session, a short quiz, or a discussion prompt that gets everyone involved from the start.
Main activity (20-30 minutes)
Differentiated tasks: Design tasks that cater to the different abilities within the group. For example, in a Maths session, you might have students working on varied problem sets - some tackling basic drills while others engage with more complex, word-based problems. We’ll look at differentiation in more detail in the section below.
Peer learning: Encourage collaboration through group discussions, peer teaching, or joint problem-solving exercises. This not only reinforces learning but also builds students’ confidence in explaining concepts to their peers.
Wrap-up (5-10 minutes)
Review and reflect: End the session with a whole group review that allows students to share their work, discuss different approaches and reflect on what they’ve learnt. This helps to consolidate learning and gives students exposure to different ways of thinking about the material.
Differentiation
In a group setting, students will likely have varying abilities, learning styles, and levels of engagement. So, how can you manage these differences?
Tiered Activities: Create tasks that can be adjusted in difficulty to suit different students. For example, in an English session, provide sentence starters for those who need more guidance while allowing more confident students to write freely. Or, in a Maths session, some students might need an additional formula sheet or example for extra guidance. This takes less time and work to plan compared to planning lots of different activities!
Flexible Grouping: Within the group, see if it’s possible to group students in ways that maximise learning. For example, pairing stronger students with those who need more support, or creating certain groups based on similar skill levels for certain activities. If the group abilities are completely varied, it may be worth talking to their department to see if there needs to be a change of students within the group or to move to another group session.
Prepare, prepare, prepare!
Lastly, here are some top tips for making sure you’re fully prepared.
Materials and Resources
It’s important to prepare a variety of materials that cater to different levels and learning styles. This could include worksheets with varying levels of difficulties, visual aids, and interactive elements like online quizzes or flashcards.
Anticipate Challenges
Think about the challenges that might arise. For example, some students might finish quickly while others struggle. Plan extension and additional support activities accordingly.
Have Clear Expectations
Before setting a group off on a task, make sure students understand the objectives and what is expected of them. This helps manage time effectively and ensures that all students stay on task.
Managing Group Dynamics
Group dynamics refer to the ways in which students interact with one another in a group setting. Understanding these dynamics is crucial to managing your sessions effectively.
Every group has different types of learners, such as leaders, passive learners, encouragers, and questioners. Recognising these roles helps you manage interactions and ensure that all students contribute positively to the session.
A task for you…
Using the table above, can you identify any roles that your students have taken in your current groups? Can you use them to your own advantage?
Engaging and Motivating Groups
To finish the article, we’ll look at how to keep your students engaged and motivated throughout the year!
Active Learning Strategies
Make learning interactive and engaging by incorporating activities like Think-Pair-Share, peer teaching, and interactive quizzes. Active participation helps students retain information better and makes the session more enjoyable for everyone
Building Positive Relationships
Creating a safe and supportive environment is key to successful tutoring. Show enthusiasm for the subject matter, encourage students to share ideas, and make it clear that mistakes are a natural part of learning. Don’t be afraid to show interest in the students’ personal lives too - what are they passionate about? What would they like to do once they leave school? Remembering these small details can go a long way!
Personalizing Engagement
Get to know your students’ interests and academic goals. Use this knowledge to tailor examples and discussions to what’s relevant to them. Recognise effort and progress, not just correct answers, to build their confidence and motivation.
Running small group sessions offers a unique opportunity to impact multiple students at once. By understanding your role, planning effectively, managing group dynamics, and keeping students engaged, you can create a supportive and productive learning environment. Remember, you have resources like the Skills Hub and Creating Giants to help you, and don’t hesitate to reach out to your RD or other staff at school for advice - they’ve been in your position and can offer valuable insights.