My personal website. Enjoy!
Read the latest news for Ability Learning, with news and opinion on education related current affairs. Some of the posts are newsletters I send to an opt-in mailing list. Please contact me if you would like to join it.
A museum in the United States recently obtained a copy of an 8th grade exam from 1912. The questions look quite challenging for a year 8 student today, especially without a calculator!
https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/1912-eighth-grade-exam_n_3744163
This is just a quick update. I haven’t been active online due to focusing on getting treatment for some minor health issues (an unusual throat condition, and poor balance caused partly by my left ear abnormality), as well as doing work around the house. Also, I’ve got more engineering work coming up so I still can’t take more students. The work should be finished by June which will allow me to take on more students in the second part of the year.
I’ll leave you with a link to an article on how universities are trending toward using means other than ATAR for selecting students:
Happy New Year! It’s exciting to be starting 2018. Lots of things have changed. I’ve moved house and I now, with my wife, own the house I’m in. (which is part of the reason I’ve been so quiet lately) I’ve also picked up some engineering work, so my availability for tutoring will be limited for the next few months. I hope this year is starting with as much promise for you as it is for me.
At someone’s suggestion, I’ve just done an internet search on teachers leaving the profession. It seems to be an ongoing problem. Here is the most recent article I found on the subject:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/jul/08/almost-a-quarter-of-teachers-who-have-qualified-since-2011-have-left-profession
These kind of articles have been appearing continuously for over a year.
Meanwhile more and more parents are turning to tutors:
https://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/watch/36623550/aussie-parents-turning-to-tutors/#page1
There was a comment that remedial tutoring only works if done intensively. My approach to remedial tutoring is to focus on one thing at a time and help the student learn that fundamental step even if it means going back to things they were meant to learn two or three years ago and make sure they learn it properly once and for all. This won’t have the effect of improving their grade immediately, but it will have the lasting benefit of providing them with a solid foundation on which they can build further learning.
I’ve been doing a bit of a touch-up to the website and also set up a twitter feed! You might also notice that I managed to put the social media links at the top-right of the website page. (This caused me much more trouble than it should have.)
Mid Year Study!
It’s about time I put out another newsletter!
I hope everyone’s studies are going really well!
Now is the time when many students are preparing for mid year tests and exams if they haven’t already started! Tutoring makes me remember my student days and how hard it was to study effectively and come up with good study approaches that work. Back then we didn’t even have Google to help us find tips on study technique. Here are a few links I found today:
http://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/studying-training/studying-tips-resources/top-10-study-tips
http://www.csc.edu/learningcenter/study/studymethods.csc
https://www.goconqr.com/en/examtime/blog/study-hacks/
I would add to these articles that it is important to know what you need to study! It may sound obvious but it can be hard to be sure which topics are going to be assessed. This can be because previous years had similar material and it isn’t clear how this year adds to what you learned last year. Perhaps something was covered in a way that didn’t make it obvious it is part of the subject material. Maybe you were sick and missed something in class.
My suggestion is that if your teacher hasn’t given it to you, make a list of topics you have been taught so far. It will be even better if you can link it to some kind of study material you have like notes, handouts, or even assignments.
And finally, and maybe this won’t be popular advice for some kids, aim to get an A! Why? Because and A grade means you have learned and understand all the topics and concepts you are supposed to have been taught. Even if you don’t usually get anywhere near an A, I think it’s important to study all the material and aim to learn basically all of it. You might be surprised how that knowledge could come in handy later on.
Of course not all kids learn and study the same way and at the same rate, but the more you learn and the more of those gaps you fill in, the better off you will be in the long run. That’s where a bit of help from a parent or tutor like me can help you improve your knowledge, understanding and confidence.
So, all the best in your studies, and feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
I would like to start some group classes in mathematics at a reduced price. The classes will be held either at a community centre, in a library, or at someone’s home.
The location will need to be somewhere in western Melbourne, within 20 minutes drive of Tarneit. (If I end up having classes at my place, I apologise in advance that my house is not presented particularly well. I am renting until my new home in Truganina is built.)
The price per student will have to depend on the number of students, but I would like to hold it at around $20 per 1 hour session.
Unless the class is in a public place I will need one more adult to attend. The first parent to volunteer will be given one free spot in the class for their child!
If you are interested, feel free to let me know. Also feel free to organise something with your friends and come back to me with an offer.
Here is the email newsletter I sent out on the 23rd March.
Welcome to this first newsletter for Ability Learning 🙂
I hope you are having a great week and, if you are studying or have a child who is studying, those studies are going great!
I plan to send these newsletters out regularly, perhaps once a month. Feel free to forward them to your friends.
I’m pleased to let you know that I have obtained accreditation with Accredited Tutor which is endorsed by the Australian Tutors Association (ata.edu.au). Obtaining the accreditation involved several hours of online training and assessment as well as background checks. I believe that this is a necessary first step in my commitment to continuously raising my quality standards.
Please be patient while I continue to work on my website. Right now it just consists of a banner and a blog with one entry. I’m currently learning about WordPress, which is the software that my website runs on to present it’s content. Once I’ve mastered this software I will be able to make some major improvements.
I have big plans for the website. I want it to host a community of students and parents and share my teaching resources with you all as well as any fun activities and content that I create. This will take time however and initially I just want to improve the formatting and start adding blog entries.
That’s all for now. I look forward to continuing to help all my students to reach their potential and surprise themselves with their own ability.
Hi, welcome to this newly created website for my tutoring business Ability Learning.
I hope this website will become the home of a community of my students and their parents. I have a lot of ideas for content to include to help my students discover and learn. Stay tuned for updates!