PRIMARY STUDENTS looking for WRITING HELP? SCHOOL ENGLISH? 1500 HOURS tutored. 99.75 ATAR. Expert KNOWLEDGE: ENGLISH AND CREATIVE WRITING MAJORS in Uni

Find out more about Michelle

• When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

  I developed more of an interest in private tutoring once I had more experience doing it. That's just because it's very difficult when you first start, and so it gets more enjoyable the more you learn about it. It also got a lot more engaging and interesting when I had developed the skills and awareness to be able to cultivate sensitive, nurturing and understanding relationships with all my tutees.
  
  I only considered doing tutoring long-term and doing teaching as a career when I was working for an employer who valued my expertise and welcomed me into the teaching team. An example of how others' actions and thoughts about you can help you form your identity! This construction of a positive identity is one of the main things that you can find in a student-tutor/teacher relationship, and one I seek to recreate for my students in an authentic way. This employment experience also helped me feel like I was taken seriously as a tutor who had valuable insights to share, and it made me excited to grow in the profession.

• Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).

  I teach mainly English at the moment, and I'm happy to cover anything from writing to reading comprehension, grammar, making speeches and creative writing of any type. I enjoy tutoring English because that is what my university degree is in, which is a double major in Literature and Creative Writing at Melbourne University.
  
  About English as a subject: Communication is an important skill, so even if you don't really like writing, we can get you prepared for the types of writing, reading and speaking that you'll have to do in your future work and study.
  
  I do also tutor some Maths and may do more of that too when I have more availability.

• Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

  Yes, my role models have been my high school teachers and tutors at university. They have been a combination of encouraging, hardworking, and ambitious people and play a great part in giving me an idea of what to work towards, as well as an idea of what to expect next in life.
  
  These teachers and tutors have truly shaped who I am - teachers/tutors can provide type of encouragement that you may not get elsewhere, outside of school. Your learning abilities and identity as a learner make up a large part of who you are; who you think you are, and what you think you can achieve. Being a student is also a large part of what you do every day. So, a teacher's genuine belief and affirmation is paramount to a student's development, and I think I have grown as a result of ongoing encouragement, and continue to strive today due to the people that I am inspired by.
  
  These role models have also contributed to my understanding of what makes a spectacular student-tutor/teacher relationship.

• What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

  A quality tutor needs empathy and respect. Students are wonderful; you've got to be able to appreciate them, their skills and interests, and their worldview, in order to provide a positive space where they can develop and feel heard.
  
  A good tutor also needs great communication and listening skills - I ask the students questions and really listen to what they say in order to fit the learning to their understanding. You need to patience to listen in order to build an interactive lesson that the student will truly learn from.
  
  I also think that it's important to communicate clearly and make sure the student is heard - students need a space in which to develop their voice without being interrupted or shot down. So, I believe a subtle and supportive communication manner is important, and I've had students who have benefited from that, and who've grown and become more confident as a result.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  My days at school or university have shown the importance of belief for a student. Everybody needs positive affirmation to feel happy and develop their self-esteem. Knowing that they're doing something right helps a student become more confident, believe in their capability for growth, and hence inspire them to do many more things, and go far beyond where you would expect!
  
  So, great happiness and inspiration can come when someone takes a moment in their day to tell you when you're doing something right; that's something that I have experienced personally when I was a student at school. And I would urge anyone reading this to reflect on how you have benefited from these moments yourself, and how you too could create these moments for your children, other people in your life, or whoever you happen to meet each day.

• What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or are still facing in your subject?

  One of the more challenging aspects of tutoring is finding out which approaches work with certain students, but this goal is also what makes individual tutoring effective. What I do to meet this challenge is to stay flexible, think about and try different techniques, and centre my approach around the student's responses and needs. Because students need different approaches, I believe in one-one-one tutoring and its unique ability to cater for an individual student's needs. When a student gets tailored teaching and interactive learning, that's when they will truly get the most out of a lesson, which is often missed in large group or classroom tutoring. Every student should give individual tutoring a try if they haven't experienced it yet - with the right tutor, it allows for deep learning, character development and individual mentorship that you just don't get in larger groups, or at least not as much as in an individual lesson.

• Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?

  My passion for tutoring is twofold: one, I enjoy becoming an expert in the content; and two, I enjoy communicating in a way that really gets the knowledge across to the student. You only learn when you make the teacher's knowledge your own! And so tutoring is part knowledge delivery, part helping the student want to use the knowledge and skills that they have been taught about.

• What makes you a Superprof (besides answering these interview questions :-P)?

  What makes me a 'Superprof' would be my tutoring experience (3 years and 40 students helped so far!), continuous dedication to content mastery, and my genuine attempts to understand the student and communicate in a way that connects with them.
  
  I understand that rapport and the tutoring relationship can be one of the most important experiences in a student's life, and nothing can be greater than helping a student develop and ignite their innate want to learn and excel in whatever aspect of their life. This understanding is what makes me a Superprof.
  
  Thanks for reading and I hope to hear from you soon!