Co-hosting is designed to enhance the tutoring experience for both students and tutors. By allowing tutors to lead a session together, we hope to create a more more opportunities for collaboration, mentorship, & relationship building among tutors while also giving tutors the option to provide learners with a more dynamic experience.
The Role of Co-Hosts
Primary tutors should take the lead in planning and structuring the session, deliver the main content, and coordinate what facilitation looks like between co-hosts. Co-hosts support the primary tutor by assisting with preparation and execution, engaging with students by answering questions, providing additional explanations, and co-facilitating the session.
General Guidelines for Co-Hosting
What Makes Sense to Co-Host:
Large Groups: Sessions with many learners can sometimes better managed with multiple tutors, ensuring everyone receives attention and support
Interactive Sessions: Activities such as group discussions, debates, or collaborative projects (like hackathons) can be more effectively facilitated by multiple tutors
New Tutors: We encourage new tutors to co-host with a more experienced tutor so they can be provided mentorship and an opportunity to build confidence and skills
Round Robin Facilitation: By having different co-host take turns hosting different sessions in a series, you can vary session times to accommodate more learners
What Doesn't Always Make Sense to Co-Host:
Small Groups: Sessions with very few students may not require the additional support and could lead to an overstaffed session
Highly Structured Sessions: Sessions that follow a strict format or have a very clear and straightforward agenda might not benefit from the dynamic of co-hosting
Highly Independent Sessions: If participants are very independent and require minimal guidance, a single host can manage the session without issue
While co-hosting is available for any session and the above are more guidelines than hard & fast rules, please note that you should not sign up to co-host if you do not intend to actively participate during the session. If you are the co-host for a series and plan to attend but not participate in a session, please ensure you withdraw as co-host of the session. It is rare for a session with 2 or more co-hosts to be able to contribute meaningfully, so we strongly encourage you to have consider capping your co-hosts at 2.
Remember that strong co-hosting involves collaborating on session planning to ensure all hosts are on the same page & confident in their roles. Stay flexible and be ready to adapt as the session progresses, responding to student needs and the flow of the discussion. If you want to go far, go together!
For more information on co-hosting at Schoolhouse, check out this page!