⏱ Monday 19th December 2022

After Madeehah’s Tutor Trust training, we checked in again via Zoom to find out all about her experiences finding the assignment, starting it, and anything else she has learned along the way. You can watch the full conversation below or keep reading to hear a summary of her top tips.

In the video Madeehah talks about several things (you can read more below), including:

• When she first started tutoring (00:28)
• How Connect works (1:50)
• Preparation for the first session (02:25)
• Structure of the first session (04:16)
• How she felt after completing her first few tutoring sessions (04:43)

Madeehah’s top tips for making sure you know about what’s available are:

1. Keep on top of your emails and Connect to see what’s available. This way, you can keep an eye out for assignments close to you, or those which fit in with your timetable and get them before anyone else does!
2. Don’t be put off by home tutoring – the idea of staying behind a screen can be daunting, but the time you save from travelling is a benefit!
3. Pre-assignment nerves are completely normal. These are settled by the introductory meeting which happens prior to the assignment, where the tutors, coordinators at the Tutor Trust and the school staff meet to discuss the scope of the assignment. From this, you find out about your students, who to contact in emergencies and what resources the school likes to use. 
4. Don’t overthink it – it’s one hour out of your time when you’re going to teach someone some Maths. (Great advice there, Madeehah!)
5. Just do it – some people will wait weeks before taking on their first assignment due to nerves, but, actually, the best thing to do is throw yourself into it whilst the training is still fresh in your mind.

Madeehah has provided some great advice there, and to add a piece of my own to this I would say don’t worry about knowing what to cover.  Before I started my first assignment, I felt nervous at the prospect of being responsible for the content I choose to teach. Often schools will tell you what they’d like you to do, and if they don’t, there are lots of online curriculum resources available on our tutors' platform Thinqi that you can follow to ensure your tutees are getting effective tuition.

Next time, we’ll be catching up with Madeehah for the last time. We’ll reflect on her journey so far, gathering plenty more top tips and advice for you! 

Want to hear more? Why not watch the full conversation with Madeehah above, or have a look at the tips from Craig, one of our Tutoring Plus Coordinators, reporting on Matt’s story.

Interested in joining us to transform lives through tutoring? If so, then you can find out more and apply to become a tutor here. 

Date of publication: 16/04/2021