Where to Teach Group Tutorials

The classroom environment can work for us or against us, which is why it is first, last & always among pedagogical concerns. John Carroll

As a tutor just starting off, the first thing you worry about is where exactly can you conduct your tutorial lessons. If you are a group tutor, you may need to worry about finding a venue that can accommodate a group of learners.

You may be considering conducting your group lessons from your home. That is all well and good, but have you ever considered if your home environment is conducive to learning and teaching?

Do you live without other people? Is your home always noisy? Can a small group of children sit comfortably in your home without being distracted by anything? Do you have enough tables and chairs for all the learners in your small group?

There are many questions that you need to ask yourself before you settle on a venue from which you will conduct your group lessons.

There are many things that may be on your mind like how to plan group tutorials. However, you will need to remember to keep finding the right venue from where you can conduct these private group tutorials at the top of your mind.

Let us look at where will be best for you to conduct these group lessons.

Where to Teach Groups of Learners?

You must have realised that when you decide to teach a group of students, there is no way that you teach all of the learners at one specific student’s house. It may also be impossible to turn your living room into a classroom every time you have your tutorial classes.

So, where can you conduct these private group lesson classes?

The living room suggestion is too much of work, but there is no reason why you can't convert a room in your house into your tuition classroom. Again, you may have the place in your home to have a classroom but remember that it may be difficult to welcome a group of primary school or secondary school students into your home every time that you have a class.

If you are okay with introducing a classroom in your personal living space, there is no reason why you cannot conduct your weekly or daily lessons from home. Having lessons at your home will save you some money as you don't have to pay rent at all or travel to conduct these classes.

Convincing parents to be okay with the fact that your tuition classes take place in your home may be slightly more difficult. Parents may not want to allow their minors to go to learn at a stranger's home. You really need to consider this fact should you be weighing the pros and cons of giving tuition at home.

If the cons of tutoring learners from a room in your home seem too much, you can always find a venue in a safe area from where you can conduct these lessons. When selecting the perfect location for your tuition classes, you need to consider what the rental will be like.

Rental amounts and the personal tax that you will start paying once you earn a certain amount of money are things that you should keep in mind as well. You need to be sure that you will have enough students to cover your rental per month and still keep you afloat before you even commit to renting a premises for your tuition classes.

Can an Independent Tutor Teach Class Outdoors?

Parents do look at everything from the cost that you are charging per tutorial lesson to the venue where you are conducting your classes. However, parents do have their children's best interest at heart, and you can't blame them for being concerned.

Parents may agree with your decision to conduct your tuition lessons outdoors in a park if it is the type of lessons that would be good to take place outdoors.

Requirements for any tutorial venue wherever you choose to take them is good lighting and a place that will stimulate learning. Thus, you can very well get away with science tutorial classes in the park.

Since science is one subject that requires you to keep children's natural curiosity alive, parents will surely agree with your decision to conduct your tutorial classes outdoors in the park.

The fresh air may even be good for learners who are learning a subject that they find difficult. You might also argue that life science lessons need to be conducted outdoors if science lessons can take place outdoors.

While conduct science lessons outdoors is debatable, it is a given that your yoga lessons or other fitness classes are best conducted outdoors as well. In fact, you may attract even more students for your yoga lessons if you are conducting them near a lake or by the beach.

When it comes to subjects such as English or even mathematics, the need to refer to a textbook may make you feel like you should rather conduct these classes indoors.

It would seem crazy to teach geometry or calculus in the park. It is best if you find the right indoor venue for these types of lessons. You will attract far more students if you have a Smartboard and other concrete mathematical objects in your classroom.

You could conduct language tuition lessons in an indoor venue like a restaurant. If you find a quite French-inspired restaurant in South Africa, there's no reason why you can't conduct your weekly French lessons there.

Like with most things, you will know the right venue for your classes once you find it. Here's hoping your tuition students' parents agree with the venue that you choose for conducting your tuition classes.

Whether you are in Johannesburg, Durban, or Cape Town, there are many venues or office spaces available for your tuition classes.

Are you still struggling to find a tuition venue? Consider giving online group tuition classes.

Private Tutoring in Schools

There are some private schools across South Africa that rent out their buildings to tutors.

If you are lucky enough, you may find a school offering their premises at a reasonable fee for afternoon and evening tutorials. The classroom setting (even though its bigger than the space that you would need for a small group) would be the ideal space to conduct your group lessons.

The tables and chairs will already be set up for you in a way that encourages learning, all you will need to do is make your mark on the whiteboard.

If you find the whole idea of paying rent to a school while you are still establishing yourself as a tutor too daunting, you can always work for an established tuition center of your own choosing.

There are several advantages to working for an established tuition center before you work for yourself. These advantages include:

• Having a classroom available
• Getting regular pay as opposed to different pay rates each month
• No needing to find students to join your tutorial classes
• Sometimes you even have the needed lesson plans and tutorial materials at your disposal

There is an interview process involved when you choose to work for an established tuition center, and you will need to prove yourself worthy of the job every time that you meet with your students. The choice is yours as to whether you want to be your own boss from the get-go, or you want to learn the tricks of the trade before you try to stand on your feet as a private group tutor.

How to Plan Tutoring Lessons?

Once you have found the right venue to conduct your tutorial classes, you need to start preparing your tutoring lessons.

The ideal setting for any tutorial class could certainly be a library filled with books. However, silence is golden in a library which means the tutor won't be able to explain or discuss concepts with his or her group of students.

Nevertheless, visiting a good old-fashioned library to read up on how to conduct group lessons won't hurt. You are bound to find tons of tutor self-help books at your local public library.

Being in a library may further inspire you to bring your tuition group to the library during the school holidays. It is a good suggestion to get your tuition group to meet up at the library regularly if you are teaching a subject like English. Giving your group the chance to lose themselves in a good book is a good technique for all South African English teachers.

You will learn by frequenting the library and reading books for teachers and tutors that the place that you teach does make a huge difference to whether learning happens or not.

While there are no limitations to where learners can learn, you cannot expect your group of students to concentrate if you are teaching them in your living room while your roommate has the TV blaring loudly.

Once you find the right tutorial venue, sell yourself as a tutor to attract more students.  The more students you have under your wing the easier it will be to pay off any expenses that you will incur as a private group tutor.

Remember if you are struggling to get started as a tutor or to find the right venue for your tuition center, you can always set yourself apart by offering online group tutorials. If you have a variety of interactive activities on your online tutorial classes, keep your camera and student's cameras on for the full duration of the class, and focus on a more student-centered approach to learning, more parents will be willing to let their children join your online tutorial center.

Otherwise, you can always join the growing group of Superprof tutors and set your own tuition rates!