How does Planettutor work?

1. Signing in.
After payment has been made, a student is given access to the website with username and password. This username and password will be used to schedule tutoring sessions on the website.

2. Scheduling sessions.
There are two options to schedule tutoring sessions with Planettutor. The first option is to go to the website http://planettutor.com/content/schedule-session-1, log in, and select the date, time and subject for the session. This request is submitted and we will make sure a tutor is available at the time requested. The second option for scheduling is to develop a fixed schedule with your tutor which is the same every week and does not change unless requested. For example your child might request mathematics tutoring every Monday and Wednesday at 5:00pm, and science on Tuesdays at 6:00pm. Using this method of scheduling it is not necessary to schedule every session through the website.

3. Logging into the online classroom/whiteboard.
After a session has been schedule using either method an email will be sent to the student. The email will confirm the date and time of the students next session, it will also provide the student with a link to access the online classroom where the lessons will take place. All a student must do is click on the link. This will open a web browser page showing the classroom. Next a student must enter their name, and also click to accept a prompt from Adobe Flash. This prompt when accepted will allow for the voice which is built into the classroom to work. If this is not accepted then the student will have limited functionality and a different means of communications must be used for speaking such as Skype.

4. Starting the session.
Now that the student has successfully logged into the classroom, the next step is to begin the lesson. The student will be greeted by one of our smart and friendly tutors. After that they will discuss what the lesson is for the day which has been prepared specially for them. If this is the first time the student is logging into the classroom, the tutor will also provide an introduction to the classroom explaining how all of the tools work and walking the student through how to use each of them.

5. What is the online classroom?
For more information about the online classroom and what tools are imbedded in it, please visit the Online Classroom page for more information.

6. How is Planettutor's tutoring methodology different?
At Planettutor we truly believe that the student is always first. We also recognize that every child learns in a slightly different way. It is for this reason we focus on one-on-one tutoring over group tutoring. In group tuitions or tutoring no student can get the individualized time which they need to be the most successful. It forces teacher to teach to the middle and no allow the smartest student to learn more, and makes it difficult for the students whom learn differently to have trouble keeping up. When working in a one-on-one way with our tutors that will never happen. In fact we have found that this type of tutoring actually helps the students to learn even faster than they can in traditional group tutoring. This has the potential of reducing the total number of sessions a student must sit with the tutor and could free up more of their personal time to do other things.

7. Parental involvement.
In our program we also involve the parents at every step of the process and provide feedback to the student and parent after every session in the form of email. We want the student and the parent to get a short evaluation after every session to show the immediate impact of the session and also to help keep the student on the right track. At the end of every month we also provide the student with a monthly report of their progress explaining how they are progressing over the year. At Planettutor we also have our students take assessment tests to evaluate the knowledge and our teaching. This is a critical step to ensure that our teaching is providing the maximum help to every student. The assessments also allow us to evaluate our teaching methods for every student and make adjustment to the teaching method if ever something needs to be changed to help the student more.