National Education > Tuition Advice

OPINION ON METHODS TUTORS

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kimmytaaa:
Not sure if this is the right place to post this

Hi
I am in the process of trialing tutors out and I would like to know other's opinion on this. For the first tutor, I have been going there for roughly 3 years now and the other one just recently. I am planning to stop going to tutor A (let's call that for now) but the problem is that I only got 2 months left until the methods exam. When I first started to go tutoring with tutor A 3 years ago, I found him okay even though he isn’t the best of the best. He used to be a teacher at some school, but now he is just a sub teacher (I assume) because he only teaches for 2 days. For tutoring A (group tutoring) I go there 3 days a week and it's 3 hour per session (2 Hours and 1 hour free), on Tuesday (3 hours as well) is a free class and catching up with homework- asking for help and stuff. On Friday, it’s for year 12 students only and some other year level as well, he explains and goes through worksheets that he gives us (this roughly goes for an hour or so), then we spend another 1 hour to work on practice exam questions that he hands out and he times us. We then go the answers together and if we got it wrong he will explain it on the whiteboard. The rest of the time left over is just finishing off homework or continue on with worksheets that he gives us (he usually says “finish off your rubbish or mess”. He drains us with a lot of homework and if we don’t hand it in on time, he will yell and get frustrated with us even if it’s one person who doesn’t do it. For tutor A, we are at integration and moving on to probability next term. Every time I heard those words, I get really annoyed and whenever I don’t understand something about a particular topic he will tell me to go and find a different tutor and get out of here. I am the only person in the year 12 group that attends Sunday’s classes as well, because he said 1 lesson on Friday isn’t enough for me, but whenever I come on Sunday's I don't do anything it’s just sitting there doing homework (I can do this at home) or fixing up mistakes from the tests or homework that I have handed in. I feel like I'm wasting my money on Sunday's because the tutoring fee isn't even cheap, a typically one week its $160 (it’s $40 for group tutoring and its 2 hours so its $80 and on Sunday it's one-on-one and that's $80 as well- for 2 hours) and it’s not like when I have tutoring I pay, the fees are payed upfront, so I have to pay for 8 weeks so its $160 x 8= $1,280.BASICALLY AFTER EVERY 8 WEEK (WHICH IS 2 MONTHS I HAVE TO GET $1,280 READY FOR HIM) IF the money doesn’t come to him on time, he would immediately call my mum and starts talking shit like why you haven’t pay yet and when you going to pay?? How would you feel if you were me or my parents? He should know that $1,280 isn’t an easy sum to get and he think that money is like fricken paper. He doesn’t respect anyone and it’s really getting up my fricken nerves. What I dislike about tutor A is that he gets angry easily, gets frustrated very easily not to mention YELLING AS WELL. For example, last time I was sick and wasn't able to attend class so my mum called him and told him that I won't be able to come and you know what he told my mum. He STARTED YELLING and even said if you are sick, you have to fricken come and if you can't come you need to get a medical certificate (Like WTF you aren't a school, you are just a TUTORING PLACE!!!) He also told my parents that collecting your little money is very tiring (like who can stand that?!?) which made my parents very angry. Ok...I seriously think had enough and I feel that enough is said about tutor A, I am moving on tutor B. Tutor B is a currently methods and further math teacher, he has taught for 12 years at different private school. I only recently attend tutor b for the last few weeks and I found that tutor B is pretty good and decent he explains and goes through questions from my textbook and goes from where my school is up to which I found is alright. He basically gives homework every week like tutor A which is good, it helps me consolidate my memory and we go thought the questions in my textbook slowly because he wants me to understand the concept before moving on to the next chapter. He gives me practice exams that he wrote up for his students to do and he will collect it for correction. But the only concern I have about him is that he doesn’t have social media, meaning that I want to ask for help with questions that I don’t understand and I can’t ask him for help  I can only ask him for help when I have classes. Unlike Tutor B, tutor A is very open with helping his students, so I don’t understand something I take a picture and send it to him and he would get back to me within 1 hour or whenever he has time with his working out and solution which I find that very useful. Overall, I think tutor B is pretty decent and his tutoring fee is pretty cheap (it’s $40 an hour) it used to be $80 an hour, because he recently moved to a new place so he is starting off cheap for now. Sorry for the long rank but I would appreciate any opinions and advice if you have any. 

Thanks

Orb:
If he treats you like you're part of his authoritarian regime, you would be better off leaving him for good.
Some people may prefer being scolded like this because it forces them to study or at least provides a compelling reason for them to do so, but in my opinion that's an incredibly discouraging method of teaching.

It sounds like it is very damaging to your mental well-being, not to mention he charges quite a bit (so also harsh on the financial aspect).

I think there are tutors who embody the best of both worlds (that is, the best aspects of tutor A & B). Try having more of a look around :)

qazser:

--- Quote from: hamo94 on June 23, 2016, 01:15:50 pm ---If he treats you like you're part of his authoritarian regime, you would be better off leaving him for good.
Some people may prefer being scolded like this because it forces them to study or at least provides a compelling reason for them to do so, but in my opinion that's an incredibly discouraging method of teaching.

It sounds like it is very damaging to your mental well-being, not to mention he charges quite a bit (so also harsh on the financial aspect).

I think there are tutors who embody the best of both worlds (that is, the best aspects of tutor A & B). Try having more of a look around :)

--- End quote ---

^I'm quoting that 'Authoritarian regime' and using it back on you ;)

Jokes aside. As Hamo outlined, with the rates he's charging for an 'average quality' of tutoring, he's simply not worth it. Many on AN charge less, are more qualified and supportive should you need tutoring. Find someone who is dedicated to your progress, not one who's only there to con you of your cash :)

Orb:
Ouch, busted!

wyzard:
If you're having seconds thoughts about your tutor, stop immediately. Don't force yourself to attend as it will only make things worst. From what I've read about tutor A, I highly disagree with his teaching authoritative style, not to mention the lack of patience. A tutor should be encouraging, and make you feel better about yourself.

For tutor B, discuss with him if there is any ways to contact him if you have questions. My students usually text me directly any questions they have which I usually try to reply within a couple of hours.

Also there are many great tutors out there so don't give up looking!

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