By Tom Kowalski
NFL Continuing Education Consultant
Most NFL players know the routine. In college, if you were having difficulty with a subject or with organizing your thoughts, you were paired with a tutor who could help you in the particular subject that you were struggling or provide editing assistance on an important paper.
Tutors are essential to success in the academic process. They are equivalent to a position coach in football. Perfection in the classroom — considered to be real learning — is not always easy to achieve. Forget here for a minute about our archaic grading system. The key to learning is understanding course material, and that process needs to begin not when a player sees his grades tumbling but rather early on when a tutor can help a player build a base and a foundation of concepts that will help him throughout the class.
Why Hire a Tutor
“Tutoring fills the educational gap” said Erica Hampton, the Tutor Coordinator at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, where she employs 55 tutors. “In many cases students don’t have the time to dedicate to the work in front of them, so a tutor helps them focus on what is important and to develop different study skills.”
Unlike your college years, chances are that you are going to enroll in fewer classes each term, at least during your active playing careers. This enables you to start working with a tutor early in the process or even before the class begins. Identifying a tutor early on, whether you are returning to your original school, attending another school, or taking a class online, can help you in the following ways:
- If you hire a tutor at the beginning of a course, you are able to evaluate whether you want to continue to meet with this tutor or hire another tutor. Beginning early helps you get to know one another.
- You have a busy schedule; a tutor has a busy schedule. The earlier you start syncing calendars, the sooner you know if the tutor/student relationship will work.
- Beginning early will help give you a solid foundation in the class and get you off to a great start. Usually, the first few weeks of a new class are critical in not only understanding the class but also what is expected of you as a student.
- Early work together means that early assignments will be done correctly, again cementing the foundation that is so important to successful learning.
A tutor is not there to do the work of the student. Trained tutors know that they are another set of eyes, a teacher’s assistant if you will, to work with you to find success in the classroom. Neither you nor the tutor wants to waste time, and the process can help you stay on task. This will give you more time to live your life, all the while removing stress associated with returning to school.
Hampton said she hires two types of tutors — Learning Style Tutors who work with students who are transitioning (i.e. freshmen, students-at-risk) to focus on effective learning and study skills development, and Content Tutors who assist on specific courses with students who might be having difficulty in those courses or who may have gotten a C on a test and simply want to do better the next time.
Where To Find a Tutor
- If you are returning to your original school, you will likely be able to identify tutors by revisiting your athletic academic advising office. You may also identify tutors by asking your professor or major academic advisor if there is a departmental tutoring program. Now that you are no longer a scholarship player, you may be required to hire a tutor. Always make sure that you ask a tutor what his or her hourly rate is and agree upon a meeting schedule in advance.
- If you are taking a class at another college or university, the NFL Continuing Education Program can help you identify a tutor through its tutoring network. Contact your Director of Player Engagement or NFL Player Engagement for more information.
- Many online programs offer tutoring as part of the distance learning experience. As with the class itself, tutoring will likely consist of online chat sessions through Skype, email, or other formats. In addition, a class tutor from your area could be hired to assist you; however, this must be done early on in the process so the tutor will have time to familiarize themselves with the course materials.
We never stop learning and our mission at the NFL is to create lifelong learners who find success both in and out of the game. Tutors can provide support for your educational goals by:
- Making you accountable and helping you schedule your coursework, thereby making it a weekly priority.
- Learning and reinforcing good study habits — most importantly, staying on task.
- Providing you the opportunity to receive constant feedback and engaging you the in educational process.
- Building your confidence as a student.
Web Tutoring
There are online sites that provide tutoring as well. These sites will charge fees and may answer questions, but it is recommended — for those attending or taking online classes — to find a live person to work with even if some of the work that you do with your tutor is through e-mail, texting, or through other technological means.
The goal of every class that you take is to score successfully and move toward your educational goals. Consider hiring a tutor. The time and energy you save and the focus you gain are well worth the expense. If you need more information on the NFL Continuing Education Program, please contact your Director of Player Engagement or NFL Player Engagement.