- Spring 2017- Is Ebola the next international pandemic? KS3
- Autumn 2017- From distant rivers to your kitchen sink KS4
- Autumn 2017- From distant rivers to your kitchen sink KS4
- Spring 2018- From distant rivers to your kitchen sink KS3
- Summer 2018- What makes a healthy heart KS2
- Autumn 2018- From distant rivers to your kitchen sink KS3
I have produced this post to help other tutors. These are some tips I've learned so far on my teaching journey.
Tips
- It's OK to be nervous with your first class- I was! Just don't overthink it and it will be fine (as long as you have prepared for it!).
- If it's a pre-designed course, make it your own! It's OK to change it and that feeling of ownership you will get will vastly improve the way you teach it.
- Assume both the lead teacher and the pupils have been told nothing about the Brilliant Club. It's better to repeat information than them not to know. Start from the basics, like what it is, why pupils have been chosen, who you are etc. Some pupils are surprised that they have to do homework, for instance.
- Email the lead teacher your handbook. This way they know the course, know what homework the pupils have to do and if a pupil looses one, they can print pages off.
- Assume the first tutorial will be 30-45 minutes long. That way if you do end up getting a full hour it's a bonus.
- Plan extra activities at the back of your handbook in case you have extra time and to keep quicker pupils occupied.
- Spend the last 10-15mins of each lesson talking over the homework and any leftover time talking about uni life. Remind them you are a student! They will look forward to it (especially after talking about homework). But have stories about uni already prepared because there might not always be questions.
- Break the ice in the first lesson- introduce competition or prizes or just general silliness. Personally, I get them to choose a sweet but they can't eat it straight away. Based on their choice they have to do different things e.g. yellow sweets have to say their favourite subject and blue sweets have to say their dream job. At the same time, round sweets have to speak while clapping their hands and square sweets have to speak while stood up. Everyone has to say their name before doing their tasks. If you do it first, they are likely to join in, although every class is different and some may be too shy for the silliness and you might just stick to saying things.
- Properly explain who you are e.g. show them a map of the UK with their school on it, where your uni is, where your undergrad uni was etc. Explain who you are in terms they can understand and identify with.
- Make lessons fun and interactive (this requires planning!).
- Make homeworks short or fun. Long is OK (e.g. produce an academic poster). Boring is OK (I'm thinking baseline assignment here) but never both. Leave that to the final assignment!
- Don't worry too much about the final assignment word count and, more specially, get your pupils to not worry about it. Quality>quantity. The word count isn't actually in the mark scheme either.
- Be positive about the final assignment e.g. it's a way to prove yourself, it's work you can put on your CV, you'll be allowed to graduate, you might get your work published in a magazine etc. They might well be freaking out about it- they really don't need any more negatives to think about!
- Don't rely on the VLE to work or for attendance or for messaging- some classes never even end up using it at all.
- Join the class on the launch trip tour! They get to know you, you get to know them and you get a taster of what they are like.
- Let the pupils make choices. Quite often in school you are told what to do, rather than asked. Don't give the pupils completely free reign but them have choices (e.g. produce a poster for homework or write a 300 word description). We're expecting university- standard work from them. The best way to get this is by trying to treat them like university students.
