Don’t we all love a good challenge? Maybe you don’t, but when you start overcoming challenges, you know that you have drank from the kool aid and there is no coming back. That is exactly what we strive to do at Papaya. We find tutors who love the subjects they teach, have overcome challenges, and teach their students how to overcome them as well.
Math and science classes have a steep learning curve. Math was my super power when I was young until I stumbled upon Algebra, and my confidence took a beating. Thankfully, my dad was very invested in my studies and my academic success – something that I used to hate, but I am grateful for now. My dad hired the teachers from the school to provide private tutoring lessons, and I started shining through once again.
We created a platform that gives students their super power, which means we heavily invest in resources and training our tutors to provide the best user experience.
Words of Encouragement
We tell them to say 3 supportive and/or encouraging words every hour.
Making complex into simple
As part of our interview process, we ask them to explain a hard topic as if we were 5 years old. With this, we want to make sure they can break down hard topics in digestible pieces of information. In Peru, where I am from, Papaya is a slang equivalent to “piece of cake” here in America. We tell tutors that every student they teach should leave the class feeling like that problem they were stuck with is Papaya!
Creating rapport
Our tutors go through an extensive onboarding process in which we train them in the best ways to build rapport with the students.
Gamification
We are working on a feature to record the participation of each student during a tutoring session. We give points for clarifying questions, times the students say, “I do not know this subject”, and ask for help. These points will make it safe for students to ask for help.
Finding the right tutor
We only let tutors teach the subjects they love, so they can transfer the emotion. When we hire tutors, we ask them why they will be a good Papaya tutor. The common denominator in their answers is the willingness to help struggling students.
The reason why I created this platform was to connect the world through STEM education. Papaya Tutor empowers students to find subjects they are struggling to comprehend. As a consequence of connecting the world, we leverage the world economy to provide students with tutors they can afford. Papaya tutors are more like mentors who have had similar experiences as their students. This allows them to empathize, be relatable and relevant, and help the student get “unstuck”.
I hope Papaya Tutor helps you whether you are stuck in a problem, losing faith in school, in need of affordable tutoring, or if you are a parent who wants to help their kids with their homework and school.
Best,
Sandra
