Every tutor wants their students to succeed, but it’s expected that some learners will simply find it difficult to pay attention to the lesson. Whether your students are struggling with a lack of understanding, frustration with the topic, or even general boredom with a subject there are plenty of ways to increase lesson engagement and learning outcomes.

Of course, working with an unfocused student may be a frustrating experience for the tutor who may be tempted to ask why they should even bother. However, aiming to increase engagement during your lessons will be very beneficial for both you and your student.

First, better engagement during the lesson equals better results for the student - exciting lessons make them more motivated to learn about the subject and continue building their understanding. It also helps them retain information better, thus preparing them for future lessons.

Delivering these improved outcomes for your student is crucial for you to build your reputation as a tutor, garner positive reviews, and strengthen your long-term relationship with your students ensuring they stick with you longer and recommend you further. Finally, fully engaged students make teaching an easier and more fulfilling experience.

Things to consider

When trying to increase engagement as a tutor, there are a few things to keep in mind, such as age group, subject matter, and personal interest.

If you tutor adult learners, for example, they won’t be as excited about an interactive game as younger students. Keep this in mind when planning an engaging lesson.

Next, think about your subject matter, which can determine what types of learning materials your students may benefit from. When tutoring language, have your students learn from videos, news articles, and a vast selection of other learning materials.

Finally, find what really makes your student tick - why they are taking your lessons, what they hope to achieve, what their plans for the subject are. Don’t be afraid to go beyond purely professional questions and ask about their interests beyond the classroom. Relating the lesson to their interests is a powerful way to keep students engaged and paying attention.

1. Limit distractions and be conscious of attention span

Everyone has been distracted while learning. Be it chatter, music, or the buzz of a cell phone, distractions can take away from your student’s engagement with a topic and decrease their understanding.

Limiting distractions as much as possible is one way to have your student feel more connected to lessons. Whether you tutor virtually or in person, request that your student place their cell phone on a table or out of reach and silence it. This will help them feel less inclined to check their phones during the lesson.

However, even this rule comes with an exception - it is a well-documented phenomenon that attention spans are shortening. If it looks like your student needs a break or is anxious about their phone, let them take a couple of minutes or go stretch their legs to return to the lesson in a better headspace.

You can even designated time within the lesson for students to look at their phones or stretch their legs. One way to do this is with the Pomodoro Technique, which divides lessons into working and break intervals.

Student attention spans will vary, so make sure to develop clear communication with them on their preferences, as your goal is to help them learn the way that’s most effective for them.

2. Use real-life examples

Often, interest comes from application. If students feel they’re able to apply a skill or subject to their everyday lives, they’re more likely to engage and master it.

Introducing examples and ideas applicable to your students’ lives outside of the lesson connects their world to the classroom and helps you customize your lesson plans to individual students.

Real-life examples and applications of the material are especially useful for language tutoring, since you can shape vocabulary lessons based on your student’s goals.

If your student is learning another language for work, find relevant terminology, videos, and texts that relate to their field. For example, if your student is learning English for business, assign them an episode of Succession (HBO) or Shark Tank (ABC). Have them watch the assigned episode and take notes as homework, then discuss the relevant vocabulary during your next session.

The aim of this is to show your student they’re not just fulfilling a graduation or work requirement, they’re learning a valuable skill.

3. Use checkpoints

When students become overwhelmed or frustrated with an assignment or lesson, completing it can feel extra difficult. Dividing tasks into smaller, more doable sub-tasks is be a great way to tackle this problem.

Instead of lecturing or working through one topic the entire tutoring session, try implementing mini-tests (1-3 questions), discussion questions, or even a quick summary of what you’ve just discussed. At the end of the lesson, review all of the checkpoints and discuss missed answers with your student.

Remember that completing tasks or answering questions correctly leads to an increase in dopamine levels, which motivates the student to try even harder. Gamification of testing with nominal rewards that constantly reminded the user of their progress are part of the reason how the language-learning Duolingo got so succesful.

4. Switch it up

Sitting still and listening for long periods will feel tedious, unengaging, and discouraging for many students. Even for those interested in a topic, monotony can be a big problem for student interest in a lesson plan.

There are many ways to beat this. Depending on the age of your students and the subject you’re teaching, find ways to make your lesson plans different.

When teaching language, students will quickly become bored by vocabulary lists and worksheets. If you still want to teach vocabulary, just in a different way, try finding a piece of art or image online. Then have your student describe elements of the image or come up with a few sentences based on the image to highlight vocab strengths and weaknesses.

For teaching grammar, your student may find exclusively reading dialogues to be tiresome. Instead, try having them read a book or short story in their learning language for a great exercise in tone, diction, and syntax. This individualized approach to teaching is also incredibly helpful for developing engaging lesson plans (and PrepYourLesson makes finding personalized lesson plans even easier!).

Final thoughts

Making your students interested in a subject can be tricky. Personal interest, material and subject matter, and your students’ age group impacts their engagement with your tutoring sessions. Still, there are plenty of ways to make your lesson plans exciting and fun every learner.

Limiting distractions, changing up your teaching style and lesson plans, and using real-life examples and checkpoints all help increase your students’ engagement with tutoring. Doing so will impact not only their enjoyment, but also their learning outcomes and connections with the topic.