How Is FLEX Effective for students?
With in-school tutoring being helpful before and after the pandemic, it gives the student time to ask their teachers questions about things they need help with or don’t understand on the assignments they have or about the topic they are learning.
The problem with FLEX/in-school tutoring is that students are not self-sufficient. The majority of students don’t do things for themselves, and they think that without asking the teacher for help, teachers will just automatically help them. However, at Tuscarora High School, in-school tutoring, more familiarly known as “FLEX,” is something that students can use to catch up on missing work or ask questions if they need to.
Being a senior at Tuscarora High, Austin Hill was asked how he found FLEX effective. He stated, “I like FLEX because of the clubs, and it also helps to get work done.” Along with being asked how Hill used it, “I use it both ways,” answering if he used FLEX as a productive way or just as a free time. Hill puts, “because of the clubs” as the reason why FLEX is important. He’s talking about how FLEX is used for more than just tutoring, but it’s also used for students to get more involved in clubs and some in school activities here at THS.
During the Wednesday FLEX times that I had observed, a few people had their heads down playing on their phones using FLEX time as a freebie to be on their phone and get out of class time, while others were enjoying the clubs they were in, and or using FLEX time for what it’s intended — like doing missing work or studying.
In addition, research showed that in-school tutoring was helpful even after the pandemic to catch up on missed learning. It’s a unique and effective method for improving the outcomes of students and their learning. This also gives the students that have after school sports and/or those who aren’t able to stay after school, to get help on what they need without staying for after school tutoring.
Another student was asked how they used their FLEX time had said, “I normally try to use it as needed, but most of the time I just do missing work at home, so I use it as free time.”
This is showing that they used their time effectively at home instead of school. Some people use FLEX as free time because they are never behind on class work and do lots of stuff in their free time at home. This is also why the school highly encourages people to join clubs so they have something to do.
Mrs. Rita White, journalism teacher at THS, had been asked how her students use FLEX: “My upperclassmen use it effectively; they check their grades and ask for help on missing work. My freshmen classes usually go on their phones and use it as a 45 minute break.” Following the previous statement, she said, “I do like the concept, but not this year. I have a lot of freshmen classes where students don’t use it efficiently and it’s frustrating. They need help with self advocacy.” This shows that the closer to graduation you are, the more you realize that you are running out of time and you start to use all your time efficiently.
White is proving that FLEX could be frustrating for a teacher as new and old students are not using FLEX effectively. To sum up the issues on how in school tutoring is effective for students: it could be frustrating for teachers knowing that some of the students that are on their phones could use help and don’t ask, but it’s a good concept for students and/or teachers when everybody knows the purpose and uses its time efficiently and not just for free time.
