[hobobot]

I was pretty flattered when my chemistry teacher asked me to tutor his friend's son who's in high school. But, I've never done tutoring before. Anybody have any tips or faux pas I should avoid?

[Grundalizer]

I've done some tutoring, (am in college) and one of the things that makes me feel pretty dumb is when I get a question from a highschool textbook that I can't answer.  Sure, I've seen it before, but it involves some crazy ICE table or something I've forgotten how to do.

My advice, find out what the kid is struggling with specifically, or what chapters they are covering, and read up beforehand and do some practice problems out so you aren't stumped midway through the session.  Also, wouldn't hurt to write out some problems before hand that you know the answer to, and have him/her solve them.

[Biopolmonkey]

I agree with the above, but one thing I did whilst tutoring and got stuck was I would involve the student in my process of figuring out the answer. I found it a fairly good teaching tool (in a one-to-one setting) as she could see how to go about approaching problems when you don't have a clue to begin with (!) and also it bolstered her confidence when e.g she would pick up on something before I did. You don't have to always be right to be a good teacher 

[JGK]

It's similar to helping out on here but face to face.

If necessary, you try to provide guidance without actually doing the work for them just helping them figure it out themselves or nudging gently in the right direction if they're going i completely the wrong path.

[hobobot]

thanks for the tips! Sadly, I never got to do anything because they never called back. Oh well, now I know for next time