First Education

Observing the tutoring session of one of my fellow tutors and a primary school student gave me insight into a productive way to provide guidance for creative writing. Observing a younger student was interesting as the tutor needed to alternate between a few different methods of teaching to ensure engagement continued throughout the session. Beginning the session by outlining a plan of what they wanted to accomplish, the tutor was able to establish goals for the hour, thus giving his student something to work towards.

Beginning with an activity to help plan the narrative, they used paper to write down different ideas for each part of the story, brainstorming back and forth to reach their final idea. By giving his student a few ideas, the tutor was able to effectively prompt him to think creatively and reach the final idea on his own, whilst still helping him along the way. This was helpful for me to see how to foster a positive sense of support while ensuring the student is able to work individually as well, increasing confidence as a result.

A technique used when structuring the plot of the story was to use a different piece of paper for each section, thus providing the student with a clear visual outline of what the narrative was going to look like. By letting his student lead the planning of the plot, he was able to help him build and expand his initial ideas, allowing the plot to become stronger. This technique also ensured interaction between the tutor and the student, engaging his interest in his learning. By pausing the session to take a break and play a game, the tutor was able to make sure they weren’t focused for too long, allowing the student to take a rest and have some fun.

Overall, observing a session with a younger student was very helpful to see an example of how to run a creative writing activity with a younger student. The tutor’s use of interactive activities and a game ensured focus and engagement throughout the entirety of the session, making sure they were productive and also enjoyed the hour. I will definitely be applying some of these strategies in my own tutoring lessons, thank you!

Annabelle Molloy

One of the most difficult parts about tests, in maths specifically, is knowing what a question requires of you. In a classroom, you work through one piece of content at a time, master it, and move on. You know all the exercises from a chapter are going to be asking you about a similar topic and all you need to do is work out how to apply it. Of course, this is a crucial way to learn this specific content, however, this methodology can limit individuals when it comes to a test. This is because each question will come from different content areas. As a result, student often don’t know where to start.
To try to improve this, I have been asking students questions that they have learnt in previous terms randomly throughout sessions to help them practice their recall of various topics.Something that I have been working on improving recently is to allow the students to attempt the question on their own as far as they can, even if they start off wrong to see if they can correct themselves and to understand their way of thinking. I have found that this will help students to feel more confident in a test when they don’t have someone to guide them when they go wrong.

Riva Burkett

Extended Response questions in HSC Physics are known for being hard to tackle. Unlike calculation questions, or short answer questions, an 8 or 9 marker in physics often intimidating and confusing for students. What markers are looking for isn’t grandiose, flowery language, essay-like structure or even coherent sentences. They want to see that you know what you’re talking about, and if you can convey that you understand the content, then you get the marks. This can be in the form of annotated diagrams, drawings, mathematical notation, and calculations. Lets look at the following question:

“Many scientists have performed experiments to explore the interaction of light and matter. Analyse how evidence from at least THREE such experiments has contributed to our understanding of physics.”

Here, the first step must be to break down the question into its essentials: Analyse, evidence, interaction of light and matter, THREE EXPERIMENTS, our understanding of physics. We should then briefly jot down a plan so we can organise our response, as there are marks allocated for coherence and conciseness. There’s no need for an introduction — here, we can get straight to grabbing marks. We can break up our answer into 3 experiments, stating the name and person responsible for the experiment, the evidence that it provides, how it involves interaction between matter and light, and how it impacted our understanding of physics. Here is a sample response below:

Step 1: Experiment 1 (Photoelectric Effect – Einstein)
– Evidence: Explain the experiment briefly.

– Interaction: Discuss photons and electrons.

– Understanding: Highlight how it demonstrated particle-like properties of light, leading to quantum theory.

Step 2: Experiment 2 (Double-Slit Experiment – Young)
– Evidence: Summarize setup and observations.

– Interaction: Discuss interference and diffraction.

– Understanding: Emphasize how this revealed wave-like properties of light.

Step 3: Experiment 3 (Spectral Lines – Bohr Model)
– Evidence: Briefly describe emission spectra experiments.

– Interaction: Discuss electrons transitioning between energy levels.

– Understanding: Outline how this clarified atomic structure and quantization.

Step 4: Conclusion (Brief and Clear)
– Concisely summarize how these experiments collectively deepened the scientific understanding of light and matter.

Parham Sepasgozar

Misha, the tutor, and Ingrid, the student, are working through advanced mathematics. They are tacklinging complex, multifaceted, and multi-marked questions, investigating the properties of maths. Specifically, they are exploring the properties of functions as they approach a point, or infinity, the domains and codomains of functions, and also exploring trigonometric functions.

Misha is highly confident, helping Ingrid understand the solutions required when solving problems, breaking complex, and initially daunting questions into understandable, comprehensive steps. He is clearly a passionate tutor, genuinely invested in Ingrid’s learning and helping her do her utmost best. Misha is patient, teaching thoroughly and carefully, whilst still maintaining an appropriate pace.

Ingrid is a highly inquisitive student, not afraid to ask questions about her issues. Their session is dynamic, working back and forwards as the tutor provides solutions to the plethora of Ingrid’s questions. She’s a quick learner – able to pick up the content quickly and apply it into new areas, overall, it is a highly productive session.

As I observe the session I’m reminded of the foundations of mathematics, and its integrity to the progression of more difficult maths. If not for the core principles of maths you learn in primary and secondary school, as well as HSC, one is unable to develop their understanding further. This is what makes tutoring so beneficial. It is quite common in a classroom for a topic to be rushed over, skimmed over amidst the rampant need to finish a quota amount of content, which often causes students to be left confused. Then, once further topics are reached in the classroom, the student is in a perpetual state of misunderstanding as the core principles were not properly explained. Tutoring fixes this issue – allowing the student to ask the essential questions about the core principles, aiding their understanding in the entire subject.

Oliver Fletcher

Today, I had the opportunity to observe Eric and his Year 6 student Ali.

I was immediately struck by the good rapport that Eric had clearly built with his student. Ali was respectful of his tutor but still felt comfortable to share an update on his week with Eric. From my own experience, it is sometimes difficult to get kids who like to talk to redirect back to working. Eric expertly navigated this challenge and seamlessly transitioned to teaching the content planned for this session, which was long division.

It was clear to me that Eric knew his student’s baseline and was able to teach the content at a level appropriate to the student’s existing level of understanding. Being able to adapt your lesson plan or content to the student’s level is a key skill needed in tutoring, and vital to ensuring that the student is actually learning and understanding what you are trying to explain to them. Sometimes when this doesn’t work it can be frustrating for us as tutors but it’s important to remember that the student’s learning is what matters most, so it’s up to us to pivot and try explaining things in a different way or with different examples.

At times Ali got a little distracted, but Eric also did a great job of helping his student to refocus when this happened. He was able to positively reinforce the student’s good behaviour, and gave positive feedback when the student got questions correct, which clearly motivated the student to maintain his good behaviour. Overall this was a very positive session for me to observe as I learnt a lot. I will definitely be implementing the strategies Eric used in his session, such as adapting your teaching to the student’s level, and using redirection strategies, in my own future sessions. Thank you for letting me observe!

Dimitra Anthony

I had a late cancellation today, so I took the opportunity to observe Misha’s session to gain insight into his teaching style. He was primarily working through 3D trigonometry questions, which can often be quite tricky for students. I thought it was great how he emphasized the importance of taking your time to carefully read the question and convert all the given information into a clear diagram. This approach helps students visualize the problem more effectively and reduces the chances of misinterpretation.

I also noticed that Misha had a strong rapport with his student and maintained a relaxed yet focused atmosphere. He wasn’t overly serious, which helped create a comfortable learning environment. When the student appeared confused, he adapted his teaching approach by either explaining the concept in a different way or breaking the problem down into smaller, more manageable sections. This flexibility in his teaching style was particularly effective in ensuring the student grasped the material. Overall, it was valuable to observe his methods, and I picked up some useful strategies that I may incorporate into my own teaching sessions in the future.

Julian Podgornik

Today I observed Lily’s session with her Year 11 Maths Advanced student. They were working through the functions and graphs topic. Lily went through some of the homework questions on graphing with her student and explained how to fix the questions that she got incorrect. Firstly Lily gave a great explanation about the classification of functions and relations and the different methods her student can use to help answer the question. Then they started working through a worksheet where Lily went through the question step by step with her student. This was a great idea as she showed her student the right way of how to go about these questions so she could eventually complete them by herself. Additionally, when working through a question I liked how Lily would encourage her student to write down the key information from the question so she could see what she was working with. Lily also ensured to tell her student what the correct answer for certain questions should look like which is good as it provides the student with a target to reach. I liked how Lily would let her student talk through her thought process and would not immediately say where she was going wrong, and rather tried to let her figure out her own mistake and get back on the right track independently.

Lily taught a great and well structured lesson today and I am very happy that I observed it. Well done Lily!

Sophia McLean

Students have different studying abilities – whether it is writing essays, using palm cards, mind maps on a white board, and various other methods. A tutor can help a student find their best study techniques, and these can be incorporated into the lessons.

Effective study methods include active recall, spaced repetition, and mind mapping. It is important that these techniques are used primarily by the student through great encouragement from the tutor. In order for a student to study, they will want to study. A tutor can guide them in finding techniques that best suit them.

Start by setting clear, specific goals for each study session to stay focused and motivated. Use active learning techniques such as summarizing information in your own words, teaching concepts to someone else, and testing yourself with practice questions rather than passively reading or highlighting. Implement spaced repetition by reviewing material over time rather than cramming, and use active recall to strengthen memory by retrieving information from memory rather than just rereading notes.

Tamiah Mahoney

Today I had the opportunity to observe Daniel and his pair of year six students. They began the lesson by working on reading comprehension skills, using a set of information to answer difficult questions. The students felt confident in this topic, so Daniel decided to focus most of the lesson on some maths questions that needed more work.

The focus on the maths work was simplifying fractions, with Daniel working through a few questions with the students collaboratively before giving them some similar questions to work through on their own. The students found these questions slightly challenging, so Daniel worked through a few more to improve their understanding. Once they were fully confident with this topic, Daniel spent the last 15 minutes of the lesson going through some harder reading comprehension work.

I thought that the session ran very smoothly, with the students remaining highly engaged and responsive for the entire hour. I thought that a number of key aspects contributed to this.

A key aspect of the tutoring session was the connection formed between the tutor and the children. Having a strong connection contributes to a safe environment in which children do not feel embarrassed to speak up when they don’t understand.

Furthermore, having this strong connection allowed Daniel to tailor the questions to the level of the students he was tutoring, as he had a clear awareness of their level of understanding, asking them to complete questions that challenged the students, but that they were ultimately able to understand and solve.

Another key aspect of Daniel’s teaching approach was his use of interactive teaching methods. He used the whiteboard and different coloured markers to explain key concepts, which provided a visual learning aid that greatly increased the students’ understanding. He also allowed the students to explain concepts that they understood well to one another, a teaching method highly effective in improving long-term retention of concepts.

He was also highly responsive to any moments of waning concentration or motivation in his students, allowing them to take a short mental break at these times so that they could keep going for the whole hour.

Ceara Kearnes

We’ve all been there – textbooks open, highlighters everywhere, and that sinking feeling that maybe you should have started studying a little earlier. Every year, I see my HSC students make the same mistake – leaving things to the last minute and relying on an intense cramming session the night before an exam. It’s understandable. There’s always so much to do, and it’s easy to feel like you have more time than you actually do. But the reality is, cramming doesn’t work. It creates stress, messes with sleep, and usually leads to forgetting half of what was studied. The students who perform the best aren’t necessarily the ones who study more – they’re the ones who study smarter.

I always encourage my students to start small and start early. You don’t need to spend hours every day drowning in textbooks. Even just 30-45 minutes of solid, focused study can make a huge difference if you do it consistently. Instead of just re-reading notes or highlighting, I push them to actively engage with the content – cover their notes, test themselves, and explain concepts in their own words. The ones who do this properly start noticing a shift; things start to stick, and they gain confidence in their knowledge.

A common struggle is planning. Many students say they’ll study “sometime today” but never actually get around to it. I get them to schedule it like an appointment – “From 4-5 PM, I’ll do past papers for English.” It removes the guesswork and helps them stay accountable. Speaking of past papers, they’re one of the best tools out there. I see a huge difference between students who regularly do timed practice questions and those who don’t. Not only do they get used to the structure of the exam, but they also become more confident in applying their knowledge under pressure.

The other big factor is sleep. I can always tell when a student has pulled an all-nighter before a lesson – they’re exhausted, foggy, and struggling to retain anything. I remind them that sleep is study. It’s when the brain consolidates information, and sacrificing it for extra revision often does more harm than good. The same goes for breaks – overloading the brain isn’t productive.

At the end of the day, my students who trust the process and pace themselves always perform better than those who rely on a last-minute cram session. It’s not about studying harder; it’s about studying smarter.

Carmen Yuen