Life as a tutor

Hellloooo Humansss!!

Remember I did a Q & A two weeks ago?

Well, one of the most asked questions from people I knew was about my tuitions and how I managed to stay organised and tutor whilst keeping my academic and social life in check.

So that's what this week's blog is going to be about.

For context, I am an english tutor for students who are aiming to write/pass the 11 plus exam and throughout the last few years I've seen that a lot of young children struggle with english.

I think lots of young people tend to find english boring (not stereotyping, I am just speaking from my experience of talking to you children) as it requires long hours of sitting down and inference etc..

Therefore, I try to approach teaching in my own style with a few techniques to hopefully engage them, make sure they have fun and breaks but also to result in efficient learning; of course to maintain all of this whilst having to mark and monitor several children is not easy with the additional stress of school.

But, I do have a few tricks:

1) Kidnap my brother and make him mark my students' work.

2) Set a deadline for my students to complete homework so I can mark it.

3) Try to finish all of my homework/work when it is given or by Friday.

4) Finish any prep for my next class on the weekend or by Tuesday.

5) Create tests, ppts/worksheets in advance.

And finally...

6) TAKE A BREAK IF NEEDED.

I don't know how necessary the other tricks are, but number 6 is very important. The whole reason to why I still stand successfully despite having a lot to deal with is because whenever I am stressed or have too much to do, I prioritise myself.

I stop, take a moment, a long nap or a whole day off and re-charge to come back 10 times stronger.

Yes, sometimes taking a day off means that I am behind schedule, I've got lots of things to do with little time but that also means I get a day to work on myself and take a break for my mental health!

There's a difference between procrastinating and laziness and being burned out and anxious/stressed.

If you do fall behind schedule because you took that long needed break, just try to work around your problem - for example if you were supposed to mark some homework and hand it in by a certain date then email the student or parent/carer that there will be a delay.

If you have homework due that you did not get to start until now, prioritise that and take 5-10 minutes finishing it off at break or lunch or after school when you usually have your dinner. (It is fine to reduce your break time by a few minutes after you had a whole day to re-charge, who knows you might even be more productive).

So, I guess what I am trying to say is, everything is possible, you just have to find a way to work around your "impossible" problems or tasks!

Ok humansss, I shall end it there - Stay healthy, happy and productive.

- Ravitreni Signing Off