Are you gearing up for your VCE or IB examinations and feeling overwhelmed by the weight of expectations? You’re not alone! Many students alike the blogger writing this had similarly found themselves seeking extra support to navigate the challenges of these rigorous academic program. However… not every high school teacher or friend has the time, effort or expertise to fully meet your every need every day every time. So here’s an easy option, hire a tutor. But why pay for another teacher, when you already have one?
A tutor is something truly unique, a veteran, a past student, an experienced learner with relevant ongoing experience. It’s not uncommon to find recent high school graduates converting to tutoring as their first official job (I mean it makes sense if you have the bragging rights and actual skill sets to do so), they’ve done the exam and they know what they’re talking about. They’ve already done the hard yard already, with hand made notes and exam curated questions. It’s not unwise to choose a tutor, in fact… it’s your legal way to cheat the education system.
But how do you choose a good mentor/tutor? Here’s how →
Qualifications and Expertise
Evidently when looking for tutors who have a strong background in the subjects you need help with, you’ll want to choose the best ones. Whether than being someone who can offer you specialized tutoring in specific subjects, or an experienced tutor who has a strong overview of the educational curriculum, or a recent graduate who has mastered a step to step plan in achieving your goals. There are many tutors available, including those of the highest performing percentile of say 99.95 ATAR or those who have been around for a while. No one can truly know the effectiveness of one tutor until someone tries it, or speaks about it to another person (aka word of mouth). So it’s up to you, the lucky parent/student reading this to be pro-active when researching for tutors, what makes these teachers better than others and do they provide a niche experience no other regular highschool teacher can offer.
Customized Learning Plans:
No two students are alike, so why should their tutoring be? Depending on the scale of production that you’re looking for, the customizability can vary majorly depending on your needs and wants. Do you only want to improve your general class performance and achieve satisfactory results? You can always apply for group based tutoring in which the class is smaller, but the tutoring experience is still far more personable than that of a regular highschool teacher. Or are you looking to achieve the highest of highs in your academic ambitions… than maybe a private tutor may suit you the best as they often intend to curate the educational program based on your wants and needs.
The are many options, some may offer only 2 hours intensive learning session or consistent weekly online hire based on available tutors. Some are dedicated tutoring institutions whilst many others are just “freelance” tutors. Once again, we urge you to try the tutoring before locking in for the long term to avoid the disappointment in case things don’t work out.
Proven Track Record:
Don’t just take their word for it – look for tutors with a track record of success. Ask for testimonials or references from past students to gauge their effectiveness. A famous example is word of mouth, seeking to establish reliable sources can be difficult and unreliable but it may provide incentivization on why they may be a suitable fit.
Many tutors’ main selling point is the fact that they are high achieving students, but you’re not after a teacher who is just simply high performing (they aren’t taking the exam for you). You’re after a teacher who can show you the ways so that you can become high achieving too, so be careful of pure gospel is a necessary component when hiring new tutors too. Just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you’re good at making other people smart!
Flexibility and Convenience:
Balancing school, extracurricular activities, and other commitments can be challenging. Choose tutors who offer flexible scheduling options to accommodate your busy lifestyle. With the current age of technology, digital meetings are sometimes more effective than meeting up with the teacher in person, saving both you and teacher time and costs of travel. Although the disconnection may “affect” the sensation of a personal experience, it’s arguably the same despite all the being said and enables you to have the same educational benefit at the comfort of your home.
Alternatively, you can meet with tutors in a library or an educational institution to have your learning. These environments are great because they provide a dedicated working space with plenty of noise isolation to ensure maximum focus (something that may be more viable than the working environment you have at home). It’s common for classes to occur outside of regular school timing on weekdays (these are more common and cheaper as they operate in regular working hours) so if you’re aiming to completely destress of private study on weekends you can have that option, but it will feel quite rushed and difficult to absorb information after a long day of school. So we do recommend you take classes on the weekends (usually a little bit more expensive as this takes upon the tutor’s private weekend to come teach), but do remember it still depends very much on the teacher’s availability and pricing format to fully justify your needs and wants.
Support Beyond the Classroom:
A great tutor does more than just teach – they inspire, motivate, and empower their students to excel. Good mentors make room to answer some small questions you have throughout the week, one way to get the most out of your tutors without necessary bothering them all the time is to collate a selection of questions you’re confused about. One email/message to send and respond time save both sides a lotta time. But the best tutor do more than just teach, they philosophize about life and tell you how much your study can mean to you. They share about their current life, entertaining and educating you so you may know more of your current subjects but also appreciate the work and effort you’ve put in. Good tutors teach, great teachers empowers.
By considering these factors and choosing the right tutor, you too can set yourself up for success in your VCE or IB journey!
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