So You Got Great Results – Should You Become A Tutor?

December 14, 2018 ,

So You Got Great Results – Should You Become A Tutor?

This article has been written by Lydia McClelland, a VCE French, Music Theory, Literature & VCE English Tutor at Learnmate. If you’re interested in private tutoring from Lydia then please check out her page here.

With the recent release of VCE results, as well as results from other states around Australia, it may be natural to wonder about the possibility of becoming a tutor after high school. Let’s weigh up the pros and cons of tutoring, as well as the process of becoming a tutor.

Why tutoring may not be for you

Tutoring is really hard work. Even though the pay seems good compared to other student jobs, it often involves work out of hours preparing lesson plans, correcting students’ work (if you agree to do this) and keeping up to date with administrative matters. You need to genuinely want to help students to be a good tutor; in addition to this, your students won’t keep coming back if you aren’t doing a good job.

Why you should consider tutoring

Tutoring is an amazing job straight out of high-school – take it from me! I’d never considered the possibility of tutoring until I was happily surprised by my results and began seriously considering the option.

I began advertising as a private tutor through social media. Very slowly, I gained as many students as I could tutor. It was tough setting up everything on my own, especially as someone who had never had a tutor through high-school, and I worked really hard in this first year to set up documents for my students and create resources I could use in the future.

After one year of private tutoring, I joined LearnMate, which was a great move – LearnMate took all the trouble out of finding students, so I could focus more upon working with students and creating resources.

Tutoring is a very flexible job which you can organise around your other interests. On top of this, you should consider tutoring because it is an incredibly rewarding job. Helping students realise their dreams is an amazing feeling. Ultimately, you should only tutor if you really want to – if you choose this path, be ready for hard work and great rewards!

If you loved this article, you will LOVE all of our other articles, such as: Your Fears are an Opportunity,The Best Way to Reduce Stress in Year 12: It’s Not What You Think and How is University Different from High School?

 – LearnMate Tutoring.

LearnMate is Australia’s leading tutoring agency offering private lessons in all primary & high school subjects including English, maths, science, humanities, foreign languages, and so much more. Our mission is simple: to provide professional, engaging and enthusiastic tutors to students, while also ensuring the student feels empowered and confident during their assessments! Ultimately, our goal is to empower students all over Australia to achieve amazing results and make their dreams come true!

LearnMate provides you with tailored, one-on-one lessons for tutoring in a variety of suburbs in Melbourne, Sydney, Geelong, Brisbane, Hobart, Canberra, Perth & Adelaide! With hundreds of tutors on the LearnMate platform, you’re bound to find someone local for any primary or high school year level! You can choose to have lessons in-person or online – whatever is easiest for you!

So You Got Great Results – Should You Become A Tutor?
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The Summer Holidays and Formal Language Examples

December 10, 2018

The Summer Holidays and Formal Language Examples

This article has been written by Liam McAlary, a Years 7 – 12, VCE Legal Studies and VCE English Language Tutor at Learnmate. If you’re interested in private tutoring from Liam then please check out his page here.

Hey guys, here is my first article for December. Most of you will have either finished school or will be very close to finishing school for the year, so I hope you enjoy/are enjoying your summer break.

Most schools will give students work to do over the summer holidays to ensure that students are well prepared for the year ahead. This work is a lot more valuable than a lot of people think it is, as the hardest thing to do in year 12 is catch up if you have fallen behind. Therefore, it is important to make sure that you are prepared and up to date when you commence school next year as year 12 is the year with the most work (obviously), but also the least time to complete it all. In terms of this work, I would advise trying to get most of it out of the way early in the holidays if you can, so it is not hanging over your head and you can thus enjoy a few weeks off. Having said that, some people will want to do it later in the break, so it is fresh in your mind, which is also an effective way of doing it. Do whatever works best for you.

Moreover, in my last article I briefly addressed the significance of contemporary Australian examples to this course. As you would know, there was a Victorian State Election, and all election staff members were sent a manual outlining their duties. This manual is littered with examples and primarily relates to unit 3 AOS 2 (formal language), and I will now provide and explain a few of them.

 

In terms of coherence, the manual is very clearly formatted (Formatting is a feature of coherence). Within each part of the manual, the key aspects such as, “getting started on election day,” are capitalised with larger font and are aligned further to the left of the page, helping to make it easy for election officials to follow. This is important given the technical nature of election work. Additionally, key sections of each part are also bolded to help draw the official’s attention to pieces of information which are important to their work.

Further, the lexicon in this manual is also worth analysing. The manual uses extensive jargon to do with elections such as, “declaration votes,” (votes that are not ordinary votes), “ordinary votes,” (votes which are cast by an elector at a polling place in the division where they are enrolled), and the initialism, “VEC,” (Victorian Electoral Commission). Obviously, this jargon helps to convey information quickly and efficiently to election officials, who need to be able to quickly refer to the manual on election day. Additionally, the jargon also helps to ensure that the manual is very clear to election officials as to what their role is and what they will be dealing with on election day.

Anyway, that’s all from me and I will have another article for you soon.

If you loved this article, you will LOVE all of our other articles, such as: How To Take Notes To Maximise Success, 2U Maths Tips from a Past Student (98 in 2U Maths)! and Tips on Studying for Exams – LearnMate Tutoring.

 

LearnMate is Australia’s leading tutoring agency offering private lessons in all primary & high school subjects including English, maths, science, humanities, foreign languages, and so much more. Our mission is simple: to provide professional, engaging and enthusiastic tutors to students, while also ensuring the student feels empowered and confident during their assessments! Ultimately, our goal is to empower students all over Australia to achieve amazing results and make their dreams come true!

LearnMate provides you with tailored, one-on-one lessons for tutoring in a variety of suburbs in Melbourne, Sydney, Geelong, Brisbane, Hobart, Canberra, Perth & Adelaide! With hundreds of tutors on the LearnMate platform, you’re bound to find someone local for any primary or high school year level! You can choose to have lessons in-person or online – whatever is easiest for you!

The Summer Holidays and Formal Language Examples
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What Your Study Scores Actually Mean (VCE)

December 4, 2018 ,

What Your Study Scores Actually Mean (VCE)

This article has been written by Lydia McClelland, a VCE French, Music Theory, Literature & VCE English Tutor at Learnmate. If you’re interested in private tutoring from Lydia then please check out her page here.

Is it true that only study scores over 40 are ‘good’? While a study score over 40 is traditionally recognised by publication in the newspaper, let’s break down what your scores actually mean.

Firstly, study scores are a comparative measure of achievement in a subject. This means that rather than a grade, they actually represent your performance in comparison to every other student who took the same subject. This is why scaling exists, an attempt to account for higher or lower levels of competition in some subjects.

If you take a look at VCAA’s webpages explaining study scores, you can get an idea of where your study score places you. Simply, the mean study score of every subject is 30, with a maximum of 50. In subjects where there are over 1,000 students enrolled, 93% of students score over 20; 53% of students score over 30; only 15% over 38; 9% over 40 and 2% over 45. Thus, the significant middle-range lies between scores of 23 – 37, according to VCAA.

As a tutor, one of the most common goals I hear from my students is, “I just want to get a 40…” However, what is worth remembering is that this means you will need to outperform 91% of the state in that subject, which is no mean feat! Ultimately, what counts is the effort you put in. Everyone begins Year 12 from different starting points, and for some, scoring over 30 in a subject is a significant achievement. As everyone receives their results in little over a week from now, I want my students to remember that whatever they score, I am still so proud of the efforts they have put in this year.

If you loved this article, you will LOVE all of our other articles, such as: 3 Facts You Should Know About Your ATAR, Tips for Supporting Your Child in Year 11 and 12! and Important Things to Remember About Course Preferences

 – LearnMate Tutoring.

LearnMate is Australia’s leading tutoring agency offering private lessons in all primary & high school subjects including English, maths, science, humanities, foreign languages, and so much more. Our mission is simple: to provide professional, engaging and enthusiastic tutors to students, while also ensuring the student feels empowered and confident during their assessments! Ultimately, our goal is to empower students all over Australia to achieve amazing results and make their dreams come true!

LearnMate provides you with tailored, one-on-one lessons for tutoring in a variety of suburbs in Melbourne, Sydney, Geelong, Brisbane, Hobart, Canberra, Perth & Adelaide! With hundreds of tutors on the LearnMate platform, you’re bound to find someone local for any primary or high school year level! You can choose to have lessons in-person or online – whatever is easiest for you!

What Your Study Scores Actually Mean (VCE)
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Important Things to Remember About Course Preferences

December 3, 2018 ,

Important Things To Remember About Course Preferences

This article has been written by Lydia McClelland, a VCE French, Music Theory, Literature & VCE English Tutor at Learnmate. If you’re interested in private tutoring from Lydia then please check out her page here.

As VCE results day approaches nearer and nearer, it’s important to fully understand how preferences work so that you can make the most informed decision.

  1. Put your preferences in the exact order of your actual preferences

A mistake people often make is thinking that they should put something they’re likely to get into first. However, it’s better to put what you want first – even if you don’t qualify for this, you’ll be considered for your next options.

For example, let’s say you want to study Commerce at Melbourne University, but as a backup you decide you might be interested in Arts too. The ATAR for Commerce is around 93, and for Arts is around 85. Now, if you put Arts as first preference, and end up getting a 95 ATAR, you would receive an offer for Arts at Melbourne, and no offer for Commerce. However, if you put Commerce first, you would have received an offer for the course you actually wanted to do. See more about this here on VTAC’s page.

It’s worth noting that institutions do not see in what position you preference their course – if you put Commerce first and Arts second, and received an 86 ATAR, you should still get an offer for Arts. It’s worth remembering that with bonus points you could gain entry to a course with a higher cut-off, and it’s also possible to get a second or third-round offer.

  1. Check the deadlines for change of preferences

Even after you receive your ATAR, you can change your preferences. Check here for the breakdown of dates – make sure you don’t miss them!

  1. Always accept course offers

Accepting a course offer does not lock you into that course or stop you from receiving new offers. However, it does offer some safety just in case you don’t receive another offer. If you rearrange your preferences after the first round and move the course which offered you a place to the bottom of your list, it’s still possible for you to receive another offer.

If you loved this article, you will LOVE all of our other articles, such as: 3 Facts You Should Know About Your ATAR, Tips for Supporting Your Child in Year 11 and 12! and Will anyone care about your ATAR in a year?

 – LearnMate Tutoring.

LearnMate is Australia’s leading tutoring agency offering private lessons in all primary & high school subjects including English, maths, science, humanities, foreign languages, and so much more. Our mission is simple: to provide professional, engaging and enthusiastic tutors to students, while also ensuring the student feels empowered and confident during their assessments! Ultimately, our goal is to empower students all over Australia to achieve amazing results and make their dreams come true!

LearnMate provides you with tailored, one-on-one lessons for tutoring in a variety of suburbs in Melbourne, Sydney, Geelong, Brisbane, Hobart, Canberra, Perth & Adelaide! With hundreds of tutors on the LearnMate platform, you’re bound to find someone local for any primary or high school year level! You can choose to have lessons in-person or online – whatever is easiest for you!

Important Things to Remember About Course Preferences
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How NOT to Study in Year 12!

December 1, 2018 ,

How NOT to Study in Year 12!

People tend to focus on effective study techniques and not so much on ineffective study techniques. In this section, we are going to look at some ineffective study techniques and some of the ways we can correct this.

  1. Studying with friends – studying with friends is not always a bad idea, however, it is a bad idea when all you end up doing is talking about Netflix and other things and are not staying focused on the task in front of you. There are a few ways to overcome this dilemma:
    1. Set ground rules before you begin studying
    2. Have regular breaks during your study session where you can talk about whatever you want

2. Studying for hours – sitting down for hours at your desk studying is not a good way to approach your work. Not only is it a health risk (sitting down too long), but it is also counterproductive because your mind is so overwhelmed with work. Take regular breaks where you go do something other than study e.g. check Facebook (don’t do it for too long!) or go for a brief walk.

3. Music – depending on the type of person you are, you may or may not work well listening to music or don’t. This is a personal preference. Some people find classical music soothing to help them learn.

4. Studying in front of a TV or with your phone nearby – these are distractions and will stop you from working productively. Study in a place where you are away from the TV, and keep your phone in another room. You can go check it when you are on your study break.

5. Multitasking – we think we can do more than one thing at the same time but in reality, this is counterproductive. The reason is that not only will you be learning things only on a superficial level, but you will overwhelm yourself because of all the work you have to do and this will make you not want to study. Do things one at a time and start with the stuff you hate doing first, that way you can get it over and done with and won’t have to worry about it again.

6. Sacrificing sleep to study – many students do this because they think it is good. Yes, your bodies may tell you that you can stay up until 3 am, but in fact, your body needs to recharge to be fully functional the next day. It is better to get up early the next morning to finish off any work, rather than do a ‘pull an all-nighter’.

A common reason why people pull an ‘all-nighter’ is that they have left their studying to the last minute. Don’t leave things to the last minute, make sure you are doing a little bit each day!

7. Energy drinks and junk food – VCE is a stressful time and there is a lot of work to do. Because of this people tend to turn to energy drinks to allow them to stay awake or eat junk food. These products are bad for your health and it’s not worth eating them. Choosing healthier alternatives such as fruit, muesli, nuts etc. are much better for you, and will help with your learning as these foods provide your body with the nutrients that it wants.

See the websites below for foods that are considered good for the brain:

8. Memorising essays – this applies mainly to the English subjects. Memorising an A+ essay and regurgitating that essay in a SAC or exam is not going to get you high marks because the topic of the essay in the SAC or exam will be different. By writing down someone else’s essay you won’t be answering the question asked of you and hence won’t get the high mark. If you have trouble writing essays seek help from your teacher.

9. Leaving things to the last minute – this will just cause you unnecessary panic and stress. You should know in advance when your SACs are going to be, so make sure that you plan out your time correctly, to ensure that you have enough time to prepare properly for them. Get in the habit of keeping a diary and USING it to write things down.

10. Not utilising your teacher – your teacher is there to help you. If you need help then you should ask them. They will be more than willing to help you all you need to do is ask!

11. Cramming – cramming the night before the SAC or exam will not do you any good. Not only will you stress yourself out, but you won’t get anything out of it. Start studying early on.

LearnMate is Australia’s leading tutoring agency offering private lessons in all primary & high school subjects including English, maths, science, humanities, foreign languages, and so much more. Our mission is simple: to provide professional, engaging and enthusiastic tutors to students, while also ensuring the student feels empowered and confident during their assessments! Ultimately, our goal is to empower students all over Australia to achieve amazing results and make their dreams come true!

LearnMate provides you with tailored, one-on-one lessons for tutoring in a variety of suburbs in Melbourne, Sydney, Geelong, Brisbane, Hobart, Canberra, Perth & Adelaide! With hundreds of tutors on the LearnMate platform, you’re bound to find someone local for any primary or high school year level! You can choose to have lessons in-person or online – whatever is easiest for you!

How NOT to Study in Year 12!
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About LearnMate Tutoring

LearnMate is Australia’s leading tutoring agency offering private lessons in all high school subjects (Years 7 – 10) and HSC, IB, QCE, BSSS, SACE, TCE, UMAT/UCAT, WACE & VCE subjects (Years 11 and 12) including English, maths, science, humanities, foreign languages, and so much more. Our mission is simple: to provide professional, engaging and enthusiastic high school tutors to students, while also ensuring the student feels empowered and confident during their assessments! Ultimately, our goal is to empower students all over Australia to achieve amazing results and make their dreams come true! You can search for a tutor here.

LearnMate Notes – Download Now!

Are you looking for some amazing notes to help guide you in your studies? LearnMate is proud to provide comprehensive notes for a wide range of Year 11 and Year 12 subjects, created by our very own tutors! Our notes are all checked over in detail before they get put on the site to ensure we only provide you with the highest quality notes around! Why not check it out? CLICK HERE.