Nooby tutors - your thoughts (1 Viewer)

spice girl

magic mirror
Joined
Aug 10, 2002
Messages
785
maybe this belongs to the 'non-school' forum, but anyway:

The question is:

Are ppl who just finished the HSC this year qualified to tutor ppl for the HSC next year?

Why / why not?

And if so, how much would you pay for 1-on-1 tuition with such a tutor?

Would you prefer a tutor who just finished HSC this year, or a tutor who's much older?
 

InfiniteQ

Solitary
Joined
Jul 6, 2002
Messages
731
Location
Kellyville
Gender
Female
HSC
2003
I prefer an older tutor for maths because I feel that you could attack them with any question as tough as it may be and they will not be hesitant. I don't mind paying more.
I think for stuff like english & that I wouldn't mind a younger tutor. 20's probably a reasonable price for a new tutor.
Well... that's my 2 cents. Take care.
 

Lazarus

Retired
Joined
Jul 6, 2002
Messages
5,965
Location
CBD
Gender
Male
HSC
2001
my little anecdote: I tutored 2u maths and adv english this year, after my HSC. I probably wasn't qualified enough :) but it ended up working out well anyway. Also had some y9 maths students. I only charged $20 p/h.
 

Jin-17

Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2002
Messages
184
I agree on this. But also, newer tutuor is mor up to date with new syallabus than older tutuors are, not to mention its much fresher in their mind also. But u cant abonden quality.
 

InfiniteQ

Solitary
Joined
Jul 6, 2002
Messages
731
Location
Kellyville
Gender
Female
HSC
2003
Originally posted by Jin-17
I agree on this. But also, newer tutuor is mor up to date with new syallabus than older tutuors are, not to mention its much fresher in their mind also. But u cant abonden quality.
Well usually older tutors tutor about 7 or 8 kids and most teach at a school as well so they have the constant practice and are probably fairly updated with the new syllabus.
 

Jin-17

Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2002
Messages
184
Originally posted by InfiniteQ


Well usually older tutors tutor about 7 or 8 kids and most teach at a school as well so they have the constant practice and are probably fairly updated with the new syllabus.

yeah, but some of them are old fashion and they may be teachinf u stuff u may not need to learn. For example the pre stuff which used to be in the old HSC. I guess it depends on who u go to. Some of the younger tutors are really good in that they have a lot of raw energy and also give u the moral support during the HSC and really look out for u. Just my thoughts
 

InfiniteQ

Solitary
Joined
Jul 6, 2002
Messages
731
Location
Kellyville
Gender
Female
HSC
2003
Originally posted by Jin-17



yeah, but some of them are old fashion and they may be teachinf u stuff u may not need to learn. For example the pre stuff which used to be in the old HSC. I guess it depends on who u go to. Some of the younger tutors are really good in that they have a lot of raw energy and also give u the moral support during the HSC and really look out for u. Just my thoughts
Yeah I agree about the moral support. My tutor is very very old and he has NO understanding about what kind of tension goes through my mind. It's been too long for him :p But I guess that's when I turn to friends who've finished school recently.
 

Jin-17

Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2002
Messages
184
I had a kick ass tutor in that he stayed over some nights to really make sure I understood it.
 

InfiniteQ

Solitary
Joined
Jul 6, 2002
Messages
731
Location
Kellyville
Gender
Female
HSC
2003
Originally posted by Jin-17
I had a kick ass tutor in that he stayed over some nights to really make sure I understood it.
That's excellent... mine'll stays for an hour and a half when it's only supposed to be an hour session. Never said anything about being paid for an hour's.
 

Jin-17

Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2002
Messages
184
But have to admit I didnt sort of liked it when we went 6 hours without a break though.:p Just kidding, I really appeciate his teaching and grateful for his help, because before year 12 I was consdiered a no hoper by some teachers and they turned their backs to me.:(
 

InfiniteQ

Solitary
Joined
Jul 6, 2002
Messages
731
Location
Kellyville
Gender
Female
HSC
2003
Originally posted by Jin-17
But have to admit I didnt sort of liked it when we went 6 hours without a break though.:p Just kidding, I really appeciate his teaching and grateful for his help, because before year 12 I was consdiered a no hoper by some teachers and they turned their backs to me.:(
Ouch! So how many units of maths did you do? Six hours is sooo long. Dunno how you put up with it. Friend of mine made me study Economics for 4 hrs and my brain was giong to blow.
 

spice girl

magic mirror
Joined
Aug 10, 2002
Messages
785
hmm...just that when I see other ppl offering tuition, i know they got a lower mark than me, and even i'm not confident in tutoring those subjects, yet they bother...

isn't it a little unfair if you know you're not really qualified yet u teach them? considering most ppl only settle for one tutor per subject...

me just doing a reality check on my job prospects next year...:p
 

InfiniteQ

Solitary
Joined
Jul 6, 2002
Messages
731
Location
Kellyville
Gender
Female
HSC
2003
Originally posted by spice girl
hmm...just that when I see other ppl offering tuition, i know they got a lower mark than me, and even i'm not confident in tutoring those subjects, yet they bother...

isn't it a little unfair if you know you're not really qualified yet u teach them? considering most ppl only settle for one tutor per subject...

me just doing a reality check on my job prospects next year...:p
Yeah I get what you mean. I suppose they tutor because they feel they can help out the next cohort and where there's a will there's a way :p
 

kini mini

Active Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2002
Messages
1,272
Location
Sydney
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2002
I believe the full American redneck h4Xor spelling is "n00bie" ;)

Seriously, as someone who wants to tutor, I think we are pretty well qualified if we got good marks. We also have a very good idea of how people feel doing their HSC.

I still think the best tutor would be someone who is actually teaching the course. That said, we wouldn't be charging nearly as much as them - say $20 like lazarus, or even $15 considering we pay no tax - and so we are the best value proposition :D.
 

hgpstar

Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2002
Messages
53
Location
Eden...corner of the universe
sure, im gonna tutor asap...beer money! (not that i actually drink beer)

i reckon the age of the tuor depends on subject... like, in english, and older tutor has a better knowledge of a wider range of texts and has had time to accumulate more resources. but for pretty much anything else, as long as you can explain it simply and get them to reproduce your actions, age doesnt matter.

i reckon if your confident people will pick that up more than anything to do with age. like, no way im gonna tutor anything above year ten, im too scared ill screw someone up! but then, lookin at how well you did spice girl...just go for it!
 

Weisy

the evenstar
Joined
Aug 2, 2002
Messages
656
Location
Here
Gender
Female
HSC
2002
Confidence in tutoring is a personal thing...as is a person's choice of a tutor. I've never had tutoring, and perhaps I could have done better if I had, but I have always believed that to be of my own infliction. So when someone approaches you for help, I think they have already mentally assessed you as a potential tutor.

I also agree with what people have been saying about us having the advantage of knowing what doing the HSC feels like, and moreover the thought processes which went through our own heads when we were studying various topics...I think half the battle with tutoring many people is overcoming a self-constructed mental barrier; showing a person that they have an innate ability to be autonomous in their thinking. Then it's just a matter of sharing study tips and shortcuts.

Note that I have never done any HSC tutoring myself before...but I have been teaching music to people of all ages, and I can safely say that being 'qualified' does not in any way define a person's ability as a teacher. I was just as unsure when I first started out, even though I was 'qualified' and proficient myself.
 

spice girl

magic mirror
Joined
Aug 10, 2002
Messages
785
hmm...especially in maths.

Getting high marks means you have the ability to do maths, but not necessarily teach it.

Because people think differently is the key problem, and teaching how to think is really hard especially when you used to do it naturally without really training yourself.

Prime example is teaching probability. You have no idea how other people think, and so you can't really change the way they think
 

kini mini

Active Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2002
Messages
1,272
Location
Sydney
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2002
Originally posted by spice girl
hmm...especially in maths.

Getting high marks means you have the ability to do maths, but not necessarily teach it.

Because people think differently is the key problem, and teaching how to think is really hard especially when you used to do it naturally without really training yourself.

Prime example is teaching probability. You have no idea how other people think, and so you can't really change the way they think
Maths is an excellent example - in year 9 I got a teacher who was fresh out of teaching maths at UNSW. He was superbly qualified, had a Ph.D - but had absolutely no idea about how to teach year 9 kids. He started the year as a really nice guy, who I'm sorry to say was mercilessly taken advantage of, and the next year turned into a screecher. We could hear him clearly from the year 10 class 30m down the hall through two closed doors :eekk:. He's settled down though.

I think that teaching maths is a bit tricky, I would be comfortable up to 3u only, but I'm confident I could do science pretty well :).
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top