Tag Archive: work from home

1. A New Year’s Resolution, For Teachers… Finally!

   9 February 2024 12:52 pm Leave a Comment

   The new term is underway, and you’re settled back into the swing of things.

   Now is the time for teachers to think about setting a New Year’s Resolution or two for the months ahead.

   Here are a few suggestions:

   New Year’s Resolution Number 1: Be More Organised

   Many teachers start the year well but then things start to slide.

   Being organised doesn’t necessarily guarantee you will have a great lesson, day, or week, of course. However, if you are continually disorganised and running around chasing your tail, those good and great days will be few and far between.

   And the thing with being disorganised is that it never gets better – it always gets worse.

   So, Resolution Number 1 has got to be to get more organised!

   Whether it’s to try to get to school 5 or 10 minutes earlier, or to vow to keep your desk tidier, any small way that you can try to be more organised will help.

   It should even result in you having a calmer and less stressful day.

   It will make you feel on top of your workload. For any teacher, this is massive.

   If you’d like to read more around how you can get a little more organised on a weekly basis, check out this handy blog from asana!

   Resolution Number 2: Take Less Work Home

   Work/life balance is a major issue for any teacher. That’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

   However, teachers are sometimes their own worst enemies. If you set out to take less work home – either on certain days or at the weekend (occasionally), you will stop the blurring of school and home.

   And it might even stop you feeling like you are working all the time.

   How do you do this?

   You can try to work smarter when you are setting homework to reduce the marking load.

   Is there a day of the week when you could stay in school to work later to finish things off and prepare for the next day? It’s a great feeling to get home and know that all your time that evening is for you, your kids, or your partner.

   Listen, you’re a teacher, so realistically you’re never going to make every night like that.

   But once or twice a week, or just every once in a while, would be nice, wouldn’t it?

   Resolution Number 3: Prioritise Your Own Wellbeing

   As teachers, we are wired to put our students first. It sometimes seems difficult to prioritise our own mental health and wellbeing. We feel guilty if we put ourselves first.

   However, this is the most important resolution of all.

   Putting your mental health first will not only make you a better teacher, but it will also make you a better parent, partner, family member, and friend.

   You will know what it is that is good for you and what works for your wellbeing, but typically if you try to eat healthily, get regular exercise, and give yourself time to spend on a hobby or interest, you will get a big mental health boost.

   It will certainly help to eliminate stress – something we’ve discussed here previously.

   You will be happier, have more energy, and be far better placed to take on the challenges of teaching, and whatever else life throws at you.

   It’s a no-brainer, isn’t it?

2. Is tutoring the perfect part-time job for undergraduates?

   13 January 2023 2:50 pm Leave a Comment

   Here’s the short answer… ‘Yes!”

   And now for the longer – ever so slightly more detailed – answer…

   Look, if you’re currently a student at university, we hear you… we feel you… times are tough! Why would you be so stupid to be an undergraduate in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, ‘eh?

   But it is what it is… and you’re in it – hey ho – but there’s no need to worry. 

   What if there was a great way to make some much needed money AND give your future job prospects a massive boost too?

   Well, we may have the answer for you.

   Yes, tutoring might just be the perfect part-time job for undergraduates!

   Here’s why…

   The perfect part-time job for undergraduates – It’s rewarding

   The big difference between tutoring as a part-time job and virtually all the other types of part-time jobs that students typically do, is that you’ll find tutoring far more rewarding. Take bar work and the hospitality sector – the hours can be long; the pay is generally pretty poor; and you’re likely to be rushed off your feet during every shift. It can be a thankless task sometimes! Not only that, but there also isn’t a great deal of job satisfaction gained usually from pulling a few pints or waiting on a few tables.

   Tutoring, on the other hand, is extremely rewarding. It’s great to see a student go from one level to the next, and watch their confidence grow as a result. Tutors have the rare opportunity to genuinely make a lasting and positive impact in students’ lives. That’s something that will give you a buzz and is something to be proud of – especially when you reflect and realise that the improvements a student has made is down to you!

   Tutor when you like – It’s flexible

   Finding a part-time job to fit around your studies can be a challenge. You’re often tied to shift patterns and specific hours. With tutoring, typically, sessions will be for an hour at a time – making it much easier to fit in around your existing commitments. Not only that, but tuition can also be delivered both face-to-face and online, so you have even more flexibility. Of course, you will never be expected to take on sessions that you don’t want to. You essentially set your own hours!

   

   What do you get from it? It’s great experience

   Although you should never take on anything purely ‘because it looks good’, the fact of the matter is that tutoring does look good. It’s a great thing to be able to put on your CV! Regardless of the subject taught or the age of the student you work with, being a tutor proves to a prospective employer that you have a particular skill set, not least that you can instruct and explain topics and concepts concisely.

   Naturally, a tutor is expected to adapt their teaching style and methods to meet the needs of the individual student. In doing so, you are showing that you are flexible and can approach different situations in a variety of ways. Of course, if you are planning on applying for a postgraduate course in education, tutoring will give an invaluable taste of what teaching is like – and it shows that you have a commitment to improving the prospects of young people.

   And don’t forget… It pays well!

   In general, tutoring pays a lot better than other part-time jobs. As it is a professional speciality, you are rewarded for your academic achievements and experience. You don’t need to be a qualified teacher to become a tutor. Maths and English tutors are always in demand. But equally, students are often looking for tutors in specialist subjects – from Mandarin to Psychology or Sociology. Typically, these types of placements can be tricky to find suitable tutors for. 

   So, whether you see it as a stepping-stone into a lifelong career in education – or just a job that will be a bit more fulfilling than working behind the bar at the Dog & Duck, tutoring might just be the perfect part-time job for undergraduates!

   Get in touch for a chat with our friendly team to find out more.

3. Why you should consider becoming a tutor

   28 October 2022 1:47 pm Leave a Comment

   It’s a weird thing to be honest, but you’d be surprised at how many qualified teachers know very little about what tutoring really entails. Of course, tutoring is very similar to conventional teaching in many ways – but there are some key differences too. Becoming a tutor isn’t for everybody – nothing is – but we think, in general, that the differences are advantages. 

   Maybe we’re a little biased but this isn’t about us, it’s about you. We don’t want to give you some sort of glorified sales pitch here. We just want to set out the case for why you should consider becoming a tutor.

   Nothing more, nothing less. No pressure. We want you to make your own mind up.

   Become a tutor – for practical reasons

   In reality, life is often about the practicalities. And that’s the first reason why you should consider becoming a tutor. Take 3 scenarios: 

   1) You’re a newly qualified teacher just starting out in schools. You could do with extra income to help pay off your student loans.

   2) You’re a teacher coming back to the classroom after a career break – maybe maternity – and you don’t want a full-time position in school so that you can have more flexibility because your circumstances have changed.

   3) You’ve retired from teaching full-time – but you’d still like to do the best bits of the job, on your own terms.

   For all the above, tutoring could be the ideal choice. 

   Become a tutor – to escape the politics and pressure of schools

   Maybe ‘escape’ is a bit strong, but let’s not beat around the bush here. Teaching, undoubtedly, is a wonderful profession. It can be the best career in the world. It’s a vocation and a calling, not simply a job. However, anybody who has been in or around education in recent years knows only too well that there are a hell of a lot of teachers trying to get out of the profession. What’s more, the stats don’t lie – an alarming number of new teachers aren’t sticking around for very long. Recruitment and retention figures are very worrying.

   There are many reasons for this and now is not the place to wax lyrical about the whys and wherefores of it all. Having said that, let’s just say that that tutoring can offer you a way out from the staffroom politics, the workload, the incessant pressure… oh… and OFSTED.

   You can probably see where we’re coming from now!

   Become a tutor – to make a difference

   

   Ask any teacher why they came into the profession, and you are likely to hear the reply, ‘To make a difference.’ And teachers really do make a difference – every single day. But in the high pressure, cut and thrust climate of progress targets, observations and inspections, the never-ending scrutiny and monitoring can make even the most dedicated professionals feel as though they are not making as much of a difference to the future of young people as they would have hoped.

   With tutoring, you can literally see the difference you are making on a day-to-day and one-to-one basis. Whether it’s helping push a GCSE student up from Grade 2 to a Grade 4, or enabling a school refuser to access the education they deserve, the rewards are tangible.

   Become a tutor – to become a better teacher

   Although people might be considering becoming a tutor as an alternative to teaching, it doesn’t have to be instead of teaching, it can be as well as… and tutoring gives you a fantastic opportunity to really hone your craft. 

   Private tutoring will only make you an even better classroom teacher overall.

   Tutoring is your opportunity to genuinely provide bespoke and personalised learning for each individual student. This is a challenge – but it’s a pleasure and a privilege too.

   Join our team

   At TutorRight, we have a motto: ‘their success starts with you.’ Our tutors are what makes TutorRight tick. If tutoring sounds like it could be for you, we’d love to hear from you. You stay in complete control. You’ll never be under pressure to take on more students than you want to. You can be as flexible as you want to be – and you’ll always be paid competitively and treated like the professional you are always.

   Registering your interest is easy. Simply fill in the form here, click send, and we’ll be in touch!