I can’t believe it, but the “Adventures in Tutoring Daily Challenge” is wrapping up on Thursday, November 27, 2025. And oh, what a ride it’s been! I’ve had an absolute blast recounting some of the tutoring themes that are so prevalent in my day-to-day interactions with my tutees.
I had a real good one yesterday — all about PATIENCE. You’ll want to check that blog post out, entitled Adventures in Tutoring Daily Challenge – Day 33. And for today, I’d like to piggyback off of yesterday and discuss another highly important topic to consider when working with youngins.
How about . . . the ability to pivot when delivering educational instruction to children?
THE PIVOT!
Having the ability to adjust your lesson plans mid-tutoring session is one of those qualities I’m becoming better and better at on the fly. I mean . . . that’s how it works. You can’t test out your ability in this area without doing it impromptu.
As I stated in one of my earlier daily challenge discussions (It’s hard to recount exactly which day, within the last 33 days of writing, I posted it.), lesson plans are good to give structure to your tutoring session and what you plan on accomplishing with the tutee for that day.
However (and it’s a Big HOWEVER) . . .
Plans are made to be changed when the occasion calls for it.
I always come to a tutoring session with a lesson plan, but many times, I find myself altering it somewhat. For example, I may not get to cover something I have in the lesson plan because of time constraints (so that “something” goes to the lesson plan for the next tutoring session). Or, the student isn’t receptive to a certain directive (so I switch to an activity the child is more willing to engage with). Or, distractions get in the way of getting some task done (in which case I have to reel the child back in with some type of redirection). Or, something better takes my plan’s place (like something better that takes my plan’s place). The list goes on and on.
And, do I panic because the plan changes? Of course not. The children don’t know that my master plan ended up being more like a tentative agenda. The parent doesn’t know either. Only yours truly is privy to the pivot that needed to be made.
So, my word of advice to anyone dealing with delivering instruction to children (tutor or not) is to . . .
BE FLEXIBLE!
Patience and flexibility are a dynamic duo that will keep you ready for any human experience you encounter when dealing with a child. And believe me when I say that every encounter is so so very different — between children and even with the same child.
Every encounter is uniquely distinct. And, it’s that way by design because we’re dealing with human beings, you know.
And, I love it! I’m a people person. Which is probably why I was drawn to working in various customer service avenues like retail in my very young adult days in the workforce, then served as an HR professional for over 10 years, took on the role of homeschooling my youngest child for two years, went into content creation where I could still interact with others through my written words while simultaneously going into the online education field with tutoring and mentoring opportunities.
Human experiences bring fresh challenges but also fresh opportunities. Not to mention, fresh pivots. And, I like honing my critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Two areas that will need to get sharper and sharper over time, when dealing with human nature.
And, they will. If you let them. Get sharper, that is. But, you occasionally need skill builders like pivots to help that sharpening effect take place.
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