Why Tri?

I’ve gotten used to spelling out my email on calls with partners, volunteers, and foster parents because it would be reasonable for someone to assume “try” is in our name. But that’s not how we spell it because that’s not the origin of our name. Surprised? Most people are. To be honest, it never occurred to me that it might be confusing, so here’s the explanation to set the record straight.

I’ve been tutoring since about 2010, and I’ve always felt that there were three sides to the tutoring TRIangle. Yes, it comes from the shape! And what are those three sides? Foundations, strategies, and student effort. I’ve been talking about this for years, but TriTogether and the students we serve highlight just how important these three things really are.

Foundations –- Growing as a learner is difficult—if not impossible—without a solid foundation from previous learning. How can you simplify fractions if you don’t understand factoring? How can you write an essay if you don’t understand sentence structure? Strong foundations are fundamental to education, and they’re usually the first thing tutors look for. Many of our students have changed schools or experienced extended absences, leaving gaps in their learning that hold them back in current classes. This is where we have to start.

Strategies – Learning is often about problem solving, and that applies well beyond math. For example, learning about history requires skills like organizing a timeline or structuring facts and dates for study. Many of our students come to us for reading support, which is a prime example of learning with strategies—whether it’s how to sound out words or building reading comprehension. Students don’t always develop these strategies on their own, so tutors need to understand their existing foundations and methods of learning in order to help them build the skills that will take them to the next level.

Student Effort – Tutoring simply doesn’t work without effort from the student. Even showing up isn’t enough—they have to be willing to learn and apply new foundations and strategies. You know the idioms about horses and water, so I’ll spare you. This is one of the reasons why TriTogether has started holding student introduction meetings; to set clear expectations about what we need from the student to ensure success. 

So, now you know! The “Tri” in TriTogether represents the three key ways that we support our students. Of course, there are plenty of other factors that affect tutoring, but calling ourselves HexaTutoring or DecaTutoring just didn’t have the same ring. What do you think is the key to successful tutoring? We’d love to hear from you—email us your ideas at info@tritogether.org.