In the times of COVID19, the Peer Tutoring Program that allows students of GZAAT to help one another improve results in specific subjects became available online. For the so-called tutor, this offer is convenient, firstly, because it increases his or her activities – diversifies CV. Secondly, it helps our students to revise and fully “master” specific subjects. The program is obviously very beneficial for the students needing some academic support, but it is also good for the school culture and in general for the spreading of the culture of learning – helping one another by using our abilities and knowledge, encouraging a good work ethic and a healthy way of sharing our skills, which is truly inspiring and sophisticated.
Interviewer - Do you think that this program will flourish in our school even during the pandemic and become popular? Approximately how many students got involved? Did you expect this number?
Liza Jariashvili (administer) - This is a program that we had in the previous years as well, and it was quite helpful for the number of students. This year it will be especially important for our community because online learning has had a big influence on some of the students’ grades since the transition to this new way of education has been relatively difficult for them. Oftentimes, students have a hard time understanding how they are graded exactly. So during this program we will, of course, consult the teachers to find out what aspects of students’ performance need to be improved. So far, we’ve had 11 students sign up as tutors. This number was actually expected because, in the previous years, we have had approximately the same number of tutors. The process of choosing the tutors also involves recommendations from the teachers. And to determine the right tutor for a specific student we evaluate other criteria, for example, what teachers they have in common.
Interviewer – How do you feel about the peer tutoring program? Do you think of it as something efficient and extremely helpful, especially in these COVID19 times? Considering that the tutors will have to communicate with the teachers themselves, what are your expectations about working with them and this program in general? (Considering the fact that students mostly have some academic difficulties regarding the subjects like math, chemistry, physics, or biology).
Tamar Mamulashvili (Chemistry Teacher)- Of course, I know about peer tutoring program and find it very effective and, thus, important. You, students, often understand each other even better than you understand what the teacher's trying to explain, and this makes the program especially valuable. Clearly, I am open to any kind of communication with the tutors if they need my advice. This program can be considered as an effective supplement to our academic support program and I encourage it strongly!
interviewer - How do you feel about peer tutoring? Is this experience beneficial, efficient for you as a tutor, and if yes how? What do you personally “gain” from this program?
Mariam Khaduri (Tutor)- The peer tutoring project is, I think, one of the most helpful and beneficial programs that were made at GZAAT. Sometimes students don’t want to confess to their teachers that they don’t understand some concept, since they think that teachers will lower their grades or that they will change their minds on their capabilities. When a student is left with this gap of confusion without a clear explanation, he/she gets demotivated and completely gives up to do anything concerning that. Exactly this is the time when the peer tutors enter the stage. I believe that with this program, we can avoid such demotivation and stressed students at GZAAT and we can somehow make the high school experience less stressful. Besides, I believe that sometimes the people of the same age understand the concepts from each other much better than from the explanation of teachers, which is I think natural. What I enjoy the most about this program is that for example, a peer tutor of one subject can also be the student of another peer tutor of another subject. Personally, I believe that teaching someone something is the type of active learning, which makes your understanding of those concepts much better. That is why I think that peer tutoring is both helpful for the student and for the peer tutor as well. This mutual success makes this program both beneficial and efficient for me.
Interviewer - Has peer tutoring been helpful for you as a student? Do you see the difference between your earlier results and the ones after tutoring?
Sofio Turashvili (student) - Peer tutoring has been very helpful for me because I can be much more open with someone my age, classmate, or a friend, rather than to a teacher. I don’t know if this is a problem for other students too, but sometimes you may be afraid to ask the teacher some questions or you might think that you are bothering them too much, so it’s easier for me to communicate with my tutor. I have only had two meetings with my tutor, so there’s not a very big difference yet, but I hope to see progress soon.
To sum up, we can clearly see the advantages of this program, especially, during “zoom classes,” where sometimes the material can be hard to explain and comprehend; and, not only does this program provide academic help, but also it allows students of different ages, various grades to “bland”, and discover new people, have a sense of community, instead of competing individuals.
Edited by Mashiko Lortkipanidze
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