Tutoring Tips? (1 Viewer)

[meilz92]

I think im getting a private tutoring job to tutor maths for a girl going into year 11 next year, and i was wondering if any current tutors could give me some tips on how to plan my lessons and what i should put into them.


thanks!

 

[the-derivative]

I'm currently tutoring both 2U/3U maths and I have two different approaches.

For 2U maths - I feel planning lessons doesn't seem necessary, so often I'll just 'teach as we go along'. Basically my student will tell me what topic she feels she wants to be tutored. I then explain it to her from the top of my head, make sure she understands and then I take out my various textbooks and find questions to go through together.

For 3U maths - for this subject I generally have a lesson plan, because I feel sometimes if I 'teach as I go along', I tend to go through content to quickly and although my student may tell me she understands, 10-20 minutes down the track, it's apparent she doesn't fully understand everything. Whereas if I have a set plan of what content I want to go through, I can pace myself better and I find my student ends up understanding everything.

 

[annabackwards]

My teaching method depends on my student - usually i'm teaching them the entire syllabus, going over areas of weakness or just helping with homework.

In the 1st two cases, i always ask them if there'll be any homework questions or anything specific they want to learn next lesson just before it. Then i'll basically prepare by making sure i have all of the material i need for the lesson.

With maths, i explain using really basic examples slowly at 1st and then move on if he/she understands, if not i'll explain everything again. Afterwards i move onto going through lots of questions with them. Eventually they'll begin to do it themselves but i still give hints if they need it. Of course they get given homework too

If it's the 3rd case, i just adlive. I do however usually give them a few extra sheets based on whatever topic i'm helping them with though ^^

 

[meilz92]

ahh okay thats what i was thinking of doing, just going through it
but this girl is going into year 11 next year so she hasnt started the course yet

how should i start off and introduce her to it? go through the syllabus? brush up on basic stuff first before the term starts? (because apparently she's having trouble)

 

[annabackwards]

I'd brush up her basics if i were you - you can't go well in maths if you're foundations are dodgy

 

[lyounamu]

I current tutor for Year 4, 5, 6 and Year 12 maths (Mathematics, Mathematics Extension 1 and Mathematics Extension 2). My tutoring approaches vary depending on the students but this is the set routine that I slightly vary to accommodate various needs.

Junior Kids: I have 2 textbooks where one of them is for beginner + normal level students and the other one that is quite advanced. The ones that I am tutoring are preparing for Selective School tests so what I do is I first go through each topic and do questions there. I select the questions before I do my tutoring so I won't waste time (good tutors should definitely do this in order to maximise productivity). Then I slowly understand where they are weak yet. While they do some of the questions I set, I write up my own questions quickly which target the questions they got wrong so that they can come back and try these questions again.

As homework, I usually set them past Selective School test papers (3-4 pages) and make them do it. I would then come again and check how they did and analyse their strengths and weaknesses and target them through our textbooks questions.

Mathematics: I believe that key to success in HSC Mathematics and beyond is trying as many past papers as one can. However, it's important to understand the concept beforehand. So I use Fitzpatrick and Cambridge as my main textbooks and selectively choose the questions prior to tutoring for the tutees to try. I make sure the questions that I ask are effectively testing the concepts and relevant questions for HSC syllabus (which I still have ><).

Then if I have time, we go through some past paper questions. Then when we finish, I give them a sorted past paper which has questions from just the topic that we have covered. When we meet again, I would go through the ones that they don't know and yeah, that's how I do my tutoring.

Mathematics Extension 1: Pretty much same as Mathematics. However, the content is obviously more difficult so I also take extra time beyond tutoring to answer their questions online e.g. e-mail. BTW, I use Cambridge and Fitzpatrick as textbooks.

Mathematics Extension 2: Same as above. However, I have found that many of the contents are not properly covered by many students. For example, ,any of tutees I had were not completely sure of how vectors work so I had to take some time to explain that from the beginning. So my main concern here is to cover everything that could be tested in HSC and focus on the main points and reinforce these points. I encourage my students to be broad-minded and think of ways to solve questions in many ways. BTW, I mainly use Terry Lee and Cambridge for this subject.

All in all, you should really tailor your tutoring to your tutees. From first lesson, get to know more about him/her then try to think of ways to maximise productivity. I find that: concept explanation -> practice questions -> past paper is the best way to go. Nevertheless, tutoring's first priority is to get tutees interested in the subject or enthusiastic about studying more. So show your passion for the subject or push them to their maximum potential.

 

[littleboyjames]

Iloveyou lyounamu

 

[Kujah]

Depending on the type of approach you will utilise, first and foremost, you must brush up on your communication skills! I'm sure you'll do fine though.

Basically, my approach would be like this:

1. Conceptual understanding: Go through the key concepts, ideas and formulae that are associated with the topic.

2. Examples: With guidance, go through some example questions. Again, depending on the student, you can use a wide variety of textbooks/past papers as sources of your examples, and a different range/level of questions based on the student(s)' need.

3. Self-completion: With more questions, the student will attempt to complete the question by him/herself with minimal supervision. If guidance is needed, then a little nudge in the right direction might be needed.

4. More questions: Do it by themselves.

Whether I give a student homework is ultimately dependent on their personal circumstances. Some are eager for it, some aren't. But I do give regular tests so I require them to revise prior to their mock assessment task.

Again, thats not to say that I will always stick to this structure, as rigid as it might look. If things do arise, then you can be flexible, adapt and just tinker around with changes.