At Del Mar High School, the peer tutor program is improving both teachers and students’ in-class experience. Peer tutoring gives older students a way to offer guidance to younger students in class, without disrupting their learning.
Angelica Quach, an IM2 teacher, outlines a typical day in class.
“Today I was running a small group with a few students, and then my peer tutor was running another small group, so we could just support more students at the same time,” said Quach. “So it’s just having another knowledgeable person that can guide students.”
Quach values having a tutor in class, as it supplies her students with extra support and explanations they might not get otherwise. And although having a peer tutor doesn’t necessarily lessen her workload, she is yet to find a con with the program.
It’s only natural that some students may not exactly connect with Quach’s teaching. But, a peer tutor can help smooth out this problem greatly.
“…As a teacher, I’m explaining [concepts] the way I understand them, so to have somebody else who understands it differently than me, or uses vocabulary that is different than what I use, is really helpful for students who maybe aren’t understanding the way I think about it,” Quach says.
This exchange of ideas and a second opinion to offer advice and other ways of solving problems in class, is extremely helpful for students who are struggling.
Jordan Pyle, a peer tutor for Quach’s IM2 class, finds the program personally beneficial, and offers her own point of view as a student.
“It’s super useful to kind of go over fundamentals of math when I’m taking higher levels [of math],” says Pyle. This showcases how the peer tutor program benefits the tutors, as well as the students.
Pyle is currently a Junior taking IB Math Applications and Integrations, loves math and enjoys tutoring others. Part of the reason why she decided to become a peer tutor, is that she feels she could’ve used a peer tutor her freshman year, and she wants to give others the help she didn’t receive.
While Pyle helps the students in a variety of ways, one of her biggest strengths is that she’s also a student, so it offers her a different outlook in class than a teacher. “I have a different level of like, [being] able to relate to student struggles and stuff. So I think it’s more informal,” says Pyle.
Both Ms. Quach, and Pyle feel that the peer tutor program is a tremendous help to everyone involved. They hope that more students will consider becoming peer tutors, in order to both help others, and benefit their community.
