I have been a GCSE English teacher and tutor for over 42 years and also a GCSE examiner for many years. For over ten years, I have been providing private English lesson at my home. However, one-to-one online private English teaching has been growing over the last ten to fifteen years with distance learning for adults. It has also been the way forward for pupils in Years 7 to 12 in secondary schools. I have seen a steady growth in this method of teaching.
More recently, online tuition has surged dramatically due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
I started teaching on line about five years ago, mainly as a backup and to help with pupils whose parents were moving out of the area but wanted to retain my teaching services. Another advantage has also proved useful for children who could not attend a lesson because their parents could not drive them due to work or personal commitments; problems with transport or traffic causing delays; or even pupils not well enough to travel but could have an on line English lesson from the comfort and security of their own home.
Online private English teaching is, without doubt, much more intense for both the teacher and the pupil and for me personally, there is a lot more preparation required before the lesson. I am a traditional teacher and love the personal interaction with my pupils, so I have had to develop online techniques to enthuse my students about the joys of English, “motivation goes a long way in their learning process.”
Even though there are many ways to carry out on-line English teaching, it still comes down to the teacher’s knowledge and years of experience to know how children tick; how they develop and perhaps spotting a weakness as this is so different at age 11 to age 15. Furthermore, the need to enthuse the student with a range of engaging activities along with providing the pupil with plenty of opportunities to speak and voice their opinions is crucial.
For the teacher, there are various platforms for online tuition. My favourite is Skype. But other platforms exist such as Zoom and Teams etc. (although Teams is more for group work or as a class/group teaching tool). It is fair to say most platforms work well and, provided both parties have a good quality ISP (Internet Service Provider) such as BT, there should not be problem with band width and therefore clear reception. In addition, it is important to have back up platforms such as Facetime (if you are an Apple iPhone or iPad user) and WhatsApp (video) which can provide a temporary teaching platform.
The marking of the GCSE English examination too has undergone changes. Traditionally the GCSE English exam papers would arrive by special delivery in super-sized envelopes and, once the papers were marked, they would be returned by post. However, over the last eight years, these examination papers have been digitised for examiners like myself to mark on line. This new on-line experience, though very time-consuming and intense, is really enjoyable and informative and has given me a greater insight into the examining boards ethos and purpose, enabling me to know firstly what they are expecting from their examiners i.e. efficient, effective and accurate marking linked closely to the exam criteria. In addition, it is also useful to know examiners have access to their team leaders who are helpful and efficient. But most importantly, what the examining board is expecting from the candidates to enable them to achieve the best possible grades. Teachers also have access to online training to enable them to teach their pupils effectively so that the pupils understand exactly what the examiners are looking for and are fully prepared and equipped for their exams.
There is no doubt that online English tuition is intense by its very nature, as both the teacher and student are facing a screen not only listening to each other but looking for visual signals commands and often feedback. My English online tuition technique has had to develop over the years, and changed, to ensure the student gets the very best knowledge in the subject matter being taught.
The marking of the GCSE English examination too has undergone changes. Traditionally the GCSE English exam papers would arrive by special delivery in super-sized envelopes and, once the papers were marked, they would be returned by post. However, over the last eight years, these examination papers have been digitised for examiners like myself to mark on line.
This new on-line experience, though very time-consuming and intense, is really enjoyable and informative and has given me a greater insight into the examining boards ethos, and purpose enabling me to know firstly what they are expecting from their examiners i.e. efficient, effective and accurate marking linked closely to the exam criteria. In addition, it is also useful to know examiners have access to their team leaders who are helpful and efficient. But most importantly, what the examining board is expecting from the candidates to enable them to achieve the best possible grades. Teachers also have access to online training to enable them to teach their pupils effectively so that the pupils understand exactly what the examiners are looking for and are fully prepared and equipped for their exams.
If you have any questions about online private English teaching please do not hesitate to contact me.