Meet our tutors: Emily
In this series, we sit down with our school tutors to find out more about them, why they work with us and the advice they'd give to pupils in schools just like yours.
This month, we spoke to top tutor, Emily, on her experience.
Why did you become a MyTutor tutor?
"I became a MyTutor tutor because when I was in school I was a student on the MyTutor platform and the tutors I had helped me to gain confidence in my academics and myself so much! I was able to have the best tutors I could find from anywhere in the UK and build a rapport due to the 1-on-1 lesson structures. Now, as a university student, being a MyTutor tutor allows me the flexibility to tutor when it works for me and my students, whilst still studying hard for my own degree."
What’s the best part of being a tutor?
"For me, I love that I can form a positive relationship with my students, and be able to help them achieve their goals, whether that is confidence or increasing their grades, or simply just understanding a topic. It’s so rewarding to see that click in a student’s brain or start to do questions independently. Being a tutor lets me celebrate my student’s achievements with them and create more challenging goals as our time together progresses. In most cases, gaining confidence and understanding means the students start to enjoy learning the subject, and that is something I love to see."
What advice would you give to pupils about to start tutoring in their school?
"Don’t be afraid to make mistakes! As someone who was tutored, it can be very daunting to be open and vulnerable about what you struggle with in a subject, especially when you don’t know the person. As someone who is now on the other side of tutoring, I’ve learnt that making mistakes is how you learn! And it’s really helpful for a tutor to uncover any misconceptions or misunderstandings you may have in order to come up with a tailored plan to help you."
How do you prepare for lessons?
"My lessons are generally in the structure of a recap and a main session. For the recap, I prepare by looking at what we have previously worked on and see what is relevant to the lesson we are going to be having. For the main session, I will make some slides explaining the topic, and then find or make some questions to have a go at.
I really like to read “teacher blogs” or published papers to look at specific teaching methods and the advantages and disadvantages of each. This helps me understand how I can adapt my explanations or methods for the student, as everyone learns differently."
What are your plans for after university? (if you have them!)
"I'm looking at doing a PGCE to teach Maths and/or Science in Secondary Schools after university! I have loved STEM for a long time and can’t wait to be able to teach and tutor even more in the future. As my undergraduate degree is in Neuroscience, I’d love to be able to combine what I know about the neural mechanisms of learning with my knowledge of tutoring and teaching to really help students learn."
A big thanks to Emily for her insights! If you want to find out more about our tutors head to our page or get in touch.
