Tutoring young people

Working with young people: Your job entails dealing with young people and as you already know, these age groups are very impressionable. You should always remember that you were once like them, so being discreet when dealing with them could be quite helpful. Be a good role model: Know that someone is under your care and manage every situation appropriately. 

That First impression lasts: First impression is the last impression. Image is a brand that is difficult to build hence your attitude matters a lot.  Report anything that might affect the progress of your work or the expected and desired performance of your prospective student before it becomes too late. Keep records of your work and encourage your students to keep records of their works.

Be positive: Tutoring entails a lot interest, passion, motivation, confidence, dedication, patience and determination, etc. It is what you give that you get. As you are teaching, you are also learning. If you’ve not shown interest that you believe in what you are teaching, you will be passing off such negative energies to your students. They will also not show interest. If you’ve not shown patience, they wouldn’t learn to be patient. If you are not confident, they will not be confident about what you’ve told them. Avoid passing off such negative mental attitudes. Be passionate about what you do. Have that job satisfaction. Be happy. That’s even a greater reward.

Be methodical: You should be capable of figuring out the most suitable technique or method to transfer knowledge. This could entail the use of analogies, pictures, stories, life experiences, etc. It is one thing to know it; it is a different thing to figure out a way to pass it on. Be meticulous. So it is not only about 2+2=4; or a verb being an action word. Show them verb in action and why 2+2 is not 22. Leave an indelible mark on their memory. Let them remember you for what you taught them. Be like your college Maths tutor who taught you that topic that you always remember. Be proactive.

Make learning interesting: Learning should be an interesting activity. Seeing their faces brimming with smiles could be rewarding. Don’t make it boring. Study their body language. You were once like them. Know when to soft-pedal or apply brake. Change gear and bring new life to the engine of knowledge. You could change the subject of discussion to resuscitate interest. Tell a story. Say something funny. They can as well learn something from your story. It is part of the learning process. Excite their minds. Then, get them back to track. Yes, you can and they will. Let your sessions be interactive. You are not a preacher. Let the student say something. You can as well learn something from them and from what they say; you can as well take it from there. Let them say their mind so that you know how they think or how they feel about it. This will also help you to help them further. Motivate them to say something even when they say they do not know what to say. It might be that they are not confident about voicing out their opinions. Sharpen their intellect. Arouse their interest. Make them reason differently. Increase their confidence limit and always commend them for any little attempt or suggestion made. This is very important. You did be helping them a lot.

Know something different: Having a wide range of knowledge could be rewarding. That will help to beef up your confidence limit. That you are a teacher of Mathematics does not mean you should not know something in History. Every little helps. Learn something new and different today. Be liberal. Do not have a parochial attitude towards learning. You are not just going there to teach your student about X-factor, you should know something about the Y-axis. What of if she asks you something apart from what you are teaching her? As a tutor, you are expected to know a lot. Live up to your expectation and gain that respect. Education is about being exposed to a wide range of experiences. Open their minds to new ideas. Interact. Integrate.

Learn to communicate: Mind your language. Learn to communicate impeccably. Avoid the use of slangs and jargons. If you must use it for any reason, be cautious. Make use of discreet euphemisms. Why say: he is a poor student when you could easily say that he is trying his best. Words are like swords.  Don’t kill someone’s spirit with your poisonous tongue. Avoid hurting someone with your remarks. If you have problem with being fluent, speak gently. This will give you the ample time to think of what to say next. As you speak more, you will become fluent.

Be more interactive: Parents want to know the type of person teaching their wards, so do not be scared to be engaged in a meaningful discussion. Have something to say. Do not just sit there listening without contributing something. Show that you know something different. Talk with every confidence. Avoid such familiarity which breeds contempt. Relate well.

Ask questions: Do not put yourself in a tight position. Always ask questions if you are not so sure of what you are doing or of what you are about to do. If you do not know it, take time to research more on it or to know more about it. It is better than passing the wrong information to your students. Avoid this professional suicide or as well academic poisoning. Retreat, research and report. If you are having problems with preparing your lesson note or even how to communicate your ideas, ask a member of your team for assistance.

Expect challenges: Expect challenging questions. While preparing for each session, you should be able to envisage the type of questions your student might ask you.  If you are challenged, you will be prepared the next time but do not expose yourself to unnecessary embarrassment. Be prepared before stepping out there. You might meet that student that knows a lot or that student that simply wants to find out if you can really prove your mettle. As a tutor, no particular day could be the same. This will also help to expose you to a wide range of experiences, enabling you to improve on your teaching skills. Do not shy away from answering questions. If they do not ask questions, do well to ask them questions. Do not assume that they know. Find out first. It is your duty.

Be prepared to deliver: Be prepared for a new challenge. While on that train or while taking that walk, think of how best to communicate those ideas that you’ve researched. It’s not only about knowing it but also being able to transfer it. Do not turn yourself into a laughing stock. To teach you need to learn. Do thorough research on each topic.  It is learn-as-you-teach. Know what you are supposed to teach them and to what level they should know. This is to avoid giving unnecessary information that they might not need. The national curriculum is easily accessible and will be quite useful for you. Show that you have that can-do attitude. Do not always wait to be told everything as you will end up not knowing anything or very little. It’s just a few clicks away.

Make knowledge work: It is not only about solving problems alone. Avoid creating further problems for your students. Show them that the knowledge they have works. Give them assignments to try out what they’ve learnt. Let them practise during sessions while you observe them. Let them know the different ways to go about a problem. Always give them the opportunity to choose which method that is most suitable for them. Make it simple. If complex, find a way to break it down- the clearer, the better. Use your Occam Razor.

Learn to earn: Learning is intrinsically tied to earning. You cannot earn if you do not learn. Learn to earn your respect and reward as a teacher. If you have to earn it, you must learn on. Personal development is vital for this job. Let them know that what you know runs through your veins. Right knowledge, right Attitude. That’s it

Matthias Ifejika

Private Educator at Leanon.

Discovering and investing in your children

As a parent you are an expert and no one is better than you when it comes to raising your child. The only way to discover your children is to observe them. How will you know if one of them is the next Richard Branson or the next Buffini, the next Einstein, Venter, Imhotep, Tesla, etc, if you do not expose them to different activities and/or tasks? Every child has a potential and discovering it will help you to chart the course of their development.  Every child is inquisitive and it is very important to discover, at an early stage, the things that excite their mind. In this age of trying-to-make-ends-touch, I know it is difficult for some parents to sit with their children and have a conversation. Everything is not about money, the time you spend with them is worthwhile and you will get to learn a lot from them. Take them with you to shopping and let them learn the first lessons of practical economics. They understand that you hardly have time for some of these things but they will appreciate your little effort at trying to expose them to different things. Charity must begin at home if she will be of help to the society in future.

At an early stage, a child will start to show signs of what s/he will like to be in future. With good planning, they will enjoy their childhood while at the same time learn how to become useful to the society.  It could be that they like working with numbers. Some show signs of being good at fixing things up. I could remember that my elder brother was good at fixing things up and he later became an engineer- first at home and then to the wider society. We never took any appliance to the electrician to repair since we had an engineer at home. One loved travelling and later became a scientist. She still travels round to research.  If you find out that they like telling stories, you can start by introducing interesting books to them. Don’t leave that shelf empty. Fill it up with interesting stories if you did like to hear one in the nearest future. What your children like to do is what they will start to show interest in from an early stage. You can even start by asking them what they think they will become. Every child has a dream and you can make that dream come true if only you can discover it, invest in it and motivate them to work hard towards achieving it. They have to be awake to see that dream come true. A journey of a thousand miles start with a step and making that right step will ensure you keep them on the right path to success.  

They can achieve success but to maintain success, they have to keep properly motivated so as to keep trying since it is not all about succeeding but maintaining success. They might not really want to do that which they are very good at- reason- it is boring. These days, it is very easy to find a student that doesn’t like reading or writing. How can they be good at what they want to do if they cannot read or write? Often, it is boring to take some notes or even write some letters. It is boring for them but we can make it interesting. They will see your contributions as punishment. Never mind, when they grow up, they will thank you for this misconstrued punishment. It is natural that the training of a child will always seem as punishment to that child. They want to laze around and play games. There is nothing wrong with that since all work and no play make Jack a dull boy but Jack has to understand that to play hard, he has to work hard first. Sometimes, young people could be lazy but you have to push them or even carry them to climb those steps and reach the apex.    

Find their interests and invest in their skills. Let them understand that they have to work hard for that next video game or bicycle. If you start to reward them based on their hardwork, they will learn to imbibe the habit of hardwork. It is as simple as that.  You will hear them moan but never mind, they will giggle at last. Anything you can do to make your child stand out from the rest of the crowd is a great investment. Every little helps. The class you see today will be that future society. If they are able to get into that top school, it is highly probable that they will get a good university place and then a great job will follow. It all depends on what they really want to do. In this time of global competitiveness, it is important to make them stand out. Introduce them to new things, find out what they like and invest now before it is too late.

Matthias Ifejika
Private Educator at Leanon.

Catch them young

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. That is Thomas Edison for you, the man who used 1% percent of his inspiration and 99% of his perspiration to develop many devices, which greatly influenced life worldwide into the 21st century. I have met students that are not all that bad who felt they could not really achieve anything in life. What am I trying to say here? Parents should learn how to encourage and inspire their children. Education is not about passing exams alone. Those that will succeed will be those that will be brave enough to fail. Students need those who can stimulate them and make them realize that the knowledge they have could work wonders for them. Inspiration is the watchword. Inspire them and then will they perspire to achieve that success but you must set the pace. If they have the mind set for success, they will succeed. As a parent, you are the first tutor and it is how well you motivate them that determine if they will win that next race.

A greater number of students still could not appreciate why they wake up every morning to go to school. “Why do I have to study that poem?” “Why am I wasting time doing this algebra? “What exactly will I gain by learning how to speak?” “School is boring.” “My teacher doesn’t like me.” “I am tired of going to school.” These are just some of the comments you hear although not exhaustive.  Perhaps, who knows? It could be that they are really bored with irrelevant things. The mind needs to be stimulated so that it could work wonders.

That is why at Leanon, we adopt a different approach to help your wards achieve their dreams. They all want to be great but like Thomas Edison said- “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% of perspiration.” “Are they prepared to work hard?” So they want to be lawyers, doctors, accountants, bankers, footballers, designers, celebrities etc. They have to appreciate that it is he who reasons differently that wins the case. Even if they want to be designers, they have to appreciate how to use their mind. That is where we come in to set their mind to fulfilling such dreams. They could be whatever they want to be if they are taught how to work hard for themselves. Yes, they can and they will if properly motivated. We have to tell them how to form the intellectual habit of reading for that is the only way that the mind could be sharpened to learn how to view things differently. The future will be for those who think differently and this is the right time to LEANON. Let’s get started.

Matthias Ifejika

Private Educator at Leanon