English Language GCSE Guide for Students

English Language GCSE Guide for Students Help for English Language GCSE: Essential Information for Students ChaptersGCSE English Language Typical WorkloadExam Boards Assessing English Language Courses At GCSE LevelResources For GCSE English RevisionHow To Use Resources Adapted to English Language GCSE CoursesFurther Education And Career Prospects For Students On English Language CoursesEnglish is widely known as the number one language in business, so making the subject compulsory for young and aspiring learners makes perfect sense. Moreover, studying your mother-tongue language helps to make you more alert when it comes to communicating, putting you in a strong position to rise to further academic and professional demands.English Language courses are designed to give students help for English development in reading, writing and analytical skills, all of which are highly transferrable to various situations.If English would not have been your first choice, the good news is that you do not have to continue with this subject at A Level. However, as you can see, English Language is a very wort hwhile subject to study, so do not rule out the possibility of taking this further after you complete your GCSE course.English Language will help you to develop a set of transferrable skills, the main being the ability to communicate better. Photo via Visual Huntif you will be a hard worker, whether you will be able think outside of the box, and much more.Where would you turn if you are an adult sitting GCSE? Find out with our guide for mature students.Your GCSE results will say a lot about you when it comes to applying for jobs or further education. Photo credit: Northern Ireland Executive via VisualHuntIt is very important that you do not twist the truth on these types of official documents, because often checks are made to verify your grades by contacting your place of study.Also, just think - if you state on an application form that you achieved an A* in English Language yet your supporting letter is riddled with errors, this will make the company question your integrity and you could wind up in a lot of trouble.If you take the English course seriously enough and work hard to reach the best possible grade that you can, you will find that your GCSE English Language grade helps you to move onwards and upwards rather than holds you back.Confirm your English GCSE timetables with this guide.

Piano Instructors 5 Tips for Planning Successful Lessons!

Piano Instructors 5 Tips for Planning Successful Lessons! A Guide to Planning Piano Lessons for Teachers in 5 Steps ChaptersEvaluate the level of your studentCreating a piano lessonSelf assessment of students’ workManaging the teacher-student relationshipAssess students’ progress and gradually set challengesChoose the right lessons materials for each studentIn  a recent feature for Intelligent Life magazine, renowned children’s author Philip Pullman has chosen music as the most important school subject. He writes,of all the things the body can do, the richest, the most interesting, the most emotionally and intellectually fulfilling thing is music. Every child needs to encounter music as early as possible, and I don’t mean just listen and then answer questions: I mean make, with voice, with clapping hands and stamping feet, with instruments of every kind.Other public figures  were also quizzed which subject they thought was most important at school. Alain de Botton chose ‘Emotional intelligence’, Jessica Lahey chose ‘Cultural Literacy’, Rose Tremain chose ‘History, backwards’, H erman Koch chose ‘Basic Geography’, Deb Wilenski chose ‘Open-air Dawdling’ and Simon Singh chose ‘Physics’.You’ve just hung up the telephone, your first hour of piano classes has been scheduled. That’s right, it’s September and school is back in session. The same goes for pianists!As a private instructor, you’ve been marketing your piano lessons all summer long and are now able to reap the benefits: you've got your first student!But from now until the first day of piano lessons you’ll need to prepare!In this article, Superprof  will help you plan your individual classes, both in terms of content and how to interact with your student. In no time at all, teaching piano will become a natural habit for you. CalumDrama School Entrance Teacher 5.00 (15) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ToriSpanish Teacher 5.00 (1) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors OliviaSchool support Teacher 5.00 (2) £21/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarkESOL (English) Teacher 4.76 (17) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YuweiChinese Teacher 4.33 (6) £19/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JenniferMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LouiseAutoCAD Teacher 5.00 (3) £60/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RickyPercussion Teacher 5.00 (7) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors NicolasGuitar Teacher 5.00 (2) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MyriamOrganic chemistry Teacher 5.00 (13) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JonathanEconomics Teacher 5.00 (9) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Oluwakemi imoleMaths Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AlexPhysics Teacher 5.00 (1) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AdamSinging Teacher 5.00 (14) £48/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ValentiniMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (2) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MilenaMaths Teacher 5.00 ( 5) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RashmiEconomics Teacher 5.00 (1) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsEvaluate the level of your studentYou’ve just arrived at your student’s house for your first at-home piano lesson.You must now assess his or her level for playing the instrument. The first thing to do is simply ask the student to evaluate his or her own level of playing the piano. Good idea, right?!“Measure” your students’ levels â€" no pun intended…Ask if they’ve already practiced, if they’ve gotten in touch with you to begin piano instruction, acquire a music education, or if they already possess rudimentary music skills.Ask about his or her music theory level: as solfège and sight reading are of huge importance for learning the piano, evaluate your student’s capacity for reading sheet music (key of A, middle C, measures, sharps, etc.).Once this information is understood and discussed, you’ll be in a good position to have an honest an d clear conversation about the aims you and your student wish to achieve.The best evaluation method consists in giving the student a piano test.Seat him or her in front of a keyboard with a piece of piano music. As such, you’ll be able to observe if he or she knows how to read music.This exercise has several benefits:Detect whether or not the student has correct piano playing postureAssess their solfège knowledgeSee if he or she knows rhythmic codes and piano notes (quarter notes, half notes, whole notes, sixteenth notes, breathing and pauses, tongs, triplets, etc.)Evaluate left hand/right hand coordination and the use of piano pedalsLastly, see if the student has already learned piano chordsAs you don’t know one another very well yet, it would be a very nice gesture to teach the first class for free. (Nothing is better than free piano lessons!) This will ensure that you begin working together in the best possible conditions.What level of proficiency do you need to teach the pi ano?Creating a piano lessonWhether you’re a piano teacher of all ages, or a professor of music improvisation or introduction, you must prepare a lesson plan to present to the student who wants to learn piano. (This prep is included in the price of a piano lesson.)Solfège ExercisesAt the beginning of each beginner piano lesson,  start with ten or 15 minutes of solfège.This way, you can get the most annoying exercise for learning music over with quickly!Generally, beginner pianists hate solfège lessons, but they are mandatory!Get your students used to reading music with a  metronome. One trick consists of teaching them to tap the tempo with the foot, or hitting their hands on their thighs.This will accustom them to measure time well and to learn to be a perfectionist, precise in their playing. This is extremely important for those who wish to learn to play the piano!In developing solfège skills, your student will know if he or she is playing in tempo or not. Have them repeat the notes to a song out loud to you, or give them an informal singing lesson. Oh yes, as you know, singing is super useful for learning to play piano.In addition to reading notes, invite your students to do rhythm exercises: see if they are capable of playing music notes in tempo (quarter notes, half notes, eighth notes, etc.). This will help with their ear training! CalumDrama School Entrance Teacher 5.00 (15) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ToriSpanish Teacher 5.00 (1) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors OliviaSchool support Teacher 5.00 (2) £21/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarkESOL (English) Teacher 4.76 (17) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YuweiChinese Teacher 4.33 (6) £19/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JenniferMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LouiseAutoCAD Teacher 5.00 (3) £60/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RickyPercussion Teacher 5.00 (7) £35/h1st lesson f ree!Discover all our tutors NicolasGuitar Teacher 5.00 (2) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MyriamOrganic chemistry Teacher 5.00 (13) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JonathanEconomics Teacher 5.00 (9) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Oluwakemi imoleMaths Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AlexPhysics Teacher 5.00 (1) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AdamSinging Teacher 5.00 (14) £48/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ValentiniMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (2) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MilenaMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RashmiEconomics Teacher 5.00 (1) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsSelf assessment of students’ workIn this part of the class, ask your student to recite what you’ve given him or her to work on in the previous lesson.This is a quick and efficient way to see if your student has worked during the week.Wo rk on the spots the student finds challenging: if he or she stumbles over a piano chord, an arpeggio, a chord progression, or if there’s a lack of dexterity in their movement, for example, focus on it until you see progress.Undertake technique exercisesIn order to perfect your student’s music education, it’s important unknot the fingers, to make sure he or she doesn’t tense up on the keyboard for acquire a maximum dexterity.Have your student practice piano scales and chord progressions, and make sure to be strict on the position of the fingers (for the ascending scale, the passage of the thumb after a major key to the right hand, and the passage of the major key after the thumb to the left hand).Also, instruct him or her to work on octaves and harmony: this will also be a useful skill for alternating between classical piano and jazz piano.Assign work for the next lessonAt the end of each class, it’s important that the instructor gives the student work to do for the followi ng session. You’re not doing it to annoy your student, but so that he or she practices for a certain amount of time, training him or herself, when alone.This is also a way to “win the loyalty” of your student. That is, by spending their free time practicing, your students will be invested personally in their piano instruction. This will be even more the case if you let them choose the music they’d like to work on.There’s a lot in this for you, the piano instructor, too, who gets to be all proud when you point out your student’s improvement!Find out how to set competitive rates for your piano lessons!Managing the teacher-student relationshipWith all these preparations, your piano instruction session is sure to be successful.However, even the most prepared piano teacher has ups and downs: that is, external conditions may prevent an individual piano lesson from reaching its highest potential.The private instructor and the student in a piano lesson must get along well to wor k together.You might not always be on top of your game, and the same goes for your student, who might be feeling tired, sick, unmotivated or distracted.There are many factors â€" fatigue, stress, brain malfunction, personal problems, etc. â€" that explain why things don’t always work out as planned, even if you are well prepared for teaching.Personally, I’ve experienced this during my own tutoring sessions.Sometimes, nothing seems to go smoothly â€" because the student isn’t receptive to my lesson, or is tired or thinking of something else â€" even if I’ve prepared my lesson well in advance. Sometimes, it’s just the “mood” that isn’t right.To get around this, you must be creative and inventive.  Try not to show your frustration, or that the lesson’s progress has been disrupted.To get the lesson back on track, find your student an exercise to revise: a scale, some solfège, a piano chord progression, or a new piece of music to think about for the following week’s class… Or give your student a bit of breathing room. You’ll figure it out!Learn more about how to give piano lessons!Assess students’ progress and gradually set challengesIt’s super important to get a sense of the progress that your student has achieved by comparing the increments of difference in the level of piano playing as the weeks go by.We advise you to establish a means of assessing each class, and address it every two or three months. This will allow you to applaud your student if there is clear improvement, especially if he or she has progressed from a beginner piano level to an intermediate level rapidly.On the contrary, this assessment allows you to identify difficulties that persist and work harder on the aims that have not been achieved.If your student’s progress is continual, you’ll need to gradually increase the level of difficulty of piano instruction.Increase the level of difficulty little by little to motivate your student.Private piano instructors who ignore this step risk de-motivating their students in the long run, which could even prompt them to quit playing. Why not increase his or her motivate by planning a recital?When the student’s level begins to stabilize, change your music styles: for instance, if you give lessons in classical piano, why not propose an exploration of jazz piano in order to enrich his or her music education?Go from simplified arrangements to original scores. A beginner pianist doesn’t play like Beethoven or Chopin in one year of private lessons, but training on original pieces â€" the Clair de Lune Sonata or the Nocturne â€" will boost anyone’s level.How can you expand your teaching by finding more students for piano lessons?Choose the right lessons materials for each studentThe last step for planning your private piano lesson: work with good tools.As for any professional, the music instructor must use a distinct pedagogical method â€" just like for a guitar lessons, violin lessons or drum lessons . He or she must adapt didactic tools to each lesson.For instance, if your student is an absolute beginner on the piano, it’s vital that he or she buys a piano method manual for a beginner.Students’ playing and music styles will adapt to the manual. Suppose that they want to learn jazz music? You must then be aware of all the various piano jazz method books by different professors and swing virtuosos, and the available editions, in order to best guide students to become more advanced in their piano playing.And because we are in the digital age, raise your students’ awareness of online piano and well as Youtube tutorials: these are means of learning how to play the piano for free. And you’ll be sure that they are working between lessons! Happy teaching!Are you looking for a private music teacher for yourself or your child?  Piano teachers,  singing teachers,  guitar teachers  and many more  music tutors  can be contacted by  searching the Superprof database of UK tutors. Or a re you a teacher looking for jobs after teaching in schools? Why not consider private tutoring as an alternative.

3 Things You Must Do After an Admissions Interview

3 Things You Must Do After an Admissions Interview An admissions interview is an excellent opportunity for you to meet with a representative of a prospective school. You will be able to speak with him or her and to gauge whether your interests and values align with those of the college. These are the top 5 question to ask in an admissions interview. However, remember that your post-discussion follow-up is just as important as the admissions interview itself. Here are three things you must do after an admissions interview to leave a positive impression and to use the meeting to your advantage: Write a thank you note The first thing you must do after an admissions interviewis write a thank you note to the person you met with. Thank the interviewer for his or her time and consideration, and emphasize your interest in the school. Including a sentence or two about a part of your conversation that you particularly enjoyed will personalize your note and help it stand out from others. If there is a talking point that you did not mention in person, consider including it briefly in your note. Email is acceptable, as is traditional mail. Ensure that you thank all involved parties (if there are multiple), and reword each note so your interviewers do not receive the same stock message. Finally, remember to send the note promptly within 24 hours, if possible. A timely, thoughtful thank you will help you shine as a responsible and ideal candidate. Here are some tips for writing a thank you note after an interview. Reflect on your interview While your interview experience is still fresh in your mind, take the time to reflect on what went well and what you would like to improve upon in the future. Consider creating a list of questions that allowed you to speak well about yourself, and a list of questions that stumped you. In doing so, you will then have a document of typical interview questions that may help you at a future meeting. You can also cross-check these questions with lists you find online. Write out the key points of your conversation, especially ones where you felt a connection to your interviewer. Beyond the actual content of your interview, gauge your nervousness and state of mind pre- and post-interview. Knowing how your body responds to an admissions interview will help you mentally prepare for similar situations, and it will allow you to develop conversational skills for professional settings. Keep these notes in a safe and accessible place so you can refer to them at a later date. Complete and strengthen your application You may have interviewed during or after the application process was complete. So, if you are still compiling your application, the final thing you must do after an admissions interview is double-check the requirements specific to that school. Ensure that you have polished your essays, checked the status of your teacher recommendations, and paid your application fee. If necessary, request the help of family, friends, teachers, or writing tutors. There is nothing like an incomplete or weak application to compromise a strong in-person impression. Confirm that all of your paperwork is complete with the college, and if you have questions, email or call an admissions officer. Allow him or her ample time to respond to your inquiry. If you don't have a writing tutoryou may want to consider hiring one to help you with your applications! If your admissions interview took place after you finished applying, seek out other opportunities to strengthen your portfolio. Consider locating the email address of a professor whose work interests you, perhaps in your desired major. You might begin a casual conversation about a shared point of interest, such as his or her research or a relevant current event/news article. Do not expect a lengthy or detailed correspondence, as many professors are busy, but the fact that you have reached out may provide you with a slight advantage. It is not easy to speak about yourself in humble, yet positive, ways, as is necessary in an admissions interview. Enjoy the accomplishment of participating in an interview, and do not forget to follow up with your interviewer, as well as with your application. Reflecting on your experience will also make you a stronger applicant for both this school and others. Good luck!

Do You Need to Know Basic Accounting Concepts

Do You Need to Know Basic Accounting Concepts Accounting knowledge is not just the asset of a business man. Even you and I need to know the basic concepts of Accounting to lead a prudent life with smart financial decisions. In that case, knowing the basic concepts is mandatory for every individual. What are the basic concepts of Accounting? Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)  These are rules designed to regulate and make most of the Accounting tasks universal. It means that the numbers within a report created by you can be factored by anyone from any corner of the earth by understanding the principles and techniques used in the report. Accounting cycle  It explains how every event creates a transaction. Suppose, you pay a bill, you write a check for it and you record the transaction in your check book. The information of your payment is accessible via your bank statements. When you learn introductory financial Accounting, you are able to understand these concepts well. You can seek the help of online tutors to learn basic principles well. Accounting journals  Accounting journals are used in the business world for keeping track of business transactions. In personal finances also, you can maintain journals like check book ledger for keeping track of checks you have written and it is useful for balancing your accounts at the end of the month. Financial statements  Income statement, balance sheets and cash flow statements are three important financial statements. The income statement shows the financial profitability of a company for a particular time interval. Financial planners use income statements for creating budgets and financial plans for their clients. Enhanced Online #Math Tutoring for Kids at TutorPace https://t.co/nBU2Bt3dam â€" Tutor Pace (@TutorPace) February 26, 2016 Balance sheets report a company’s assets, liabilities and stockholders’ equity at a particular point of time. Students find tallying balance sheets challenging. Accounting homework help online can save their time with strategies from expert tutors in the field. Cash flow statements show how your cash changes during a specified period of time. It shows where your money goes exactly on a monthly basis (like expenses, income and investments). Learning Accounting is interesting once you use your logic to understand concepts. Still, there may be troubles lurking in the corner while doing assignments like tough problems or producing a financial statement. Accounting assignment help online solves all your learning issues and ascertains your improved scores in the subject. Contact Tutor Pace for getting excellent help online and for reaching unto the top of the class.

Benefits of Taking SAT Practice Tests

Benefits of Taking SAT Practice Tests When it comes to the SAT, you can never have enough practice under your belt. The SAT is totally different from the typical exams high school students are accustomed to taking in the classroom. Therefore, one of the absolute best ways to excel on the SAT is by taking SAT practice exams. Its that simple. As students gain more exposure to the SAT question types and become comfortable with the specific format, the higher they will score on test day. [RELATED: What is an Average SAT Score?] Time management is probably something we could all afford to work on. Even for those who are extremely bright and familiarized with the SAT format, timing often appears to be an issue on this standardized test. Most students who have taken the SAT admit to running out of time during the exam or having to rush through the last few questions of a section. The truth is that the SAT test-makers allot you barely enough time to complete the assessment in its entirety. The most important reason to take SAT practice tests is that you will learn how to pace yourself and realize which sections require more time than others. Overall, there are hundreds of vocabulary terms out there classified as SAT words. It would be a tremendously challenging and impractical task to try to memorize every vocabulary word that has ever appeared on the SAT. You may want to take a look at these SAT flashcardsthat can help you study. Even the most skilled SAT test-takers probably dont know every definition. By taking practice tests, you will notice which vocabulary words appear more frequently than others. You should write down the words that you encounter over and over again; your time is best spent learning the words that pop up most often, rather than learning words that have only shown up a few times in the history of the SAT. You may also want to take a look at this information on how the SAT is scored. The Critical Reading section of the SAT can be problematic for a variety of reasons. The type of reading that this test requires is much different from the type of reading we do in the classroom and at home, where theres no ticking timer and we have dictionaries at our disposal. Considering the limited time you will have on the SAT, the most you can typically hope for is a very basic understanding of the passages. Dont get hung up on technical details like dates, names, and words you havent seen before. If these details are relevant, its likely that the questions will indicate the exact line in which theyre used. Its important to remember that you dont gain points simply for reading the passage thoroughly; you only gain points for correctly answering the questions about it. Practice tests will allow you to rehearse this aspect of reading comprehension necessary for succeeding on the exam. When you take SAT practice tests, online or in prep books, you will become better aware of the types of questions that the test utilizes. For instance, the Critical Reading section contains questions that ask about the chronology of events, tone, inferences, vocabulary in context, etc. The wording of the questions may vary, but you can bet that the SAT will contain questions that test these concepts. The test-makers come up with a diverse collection of ways to ask about the same idea questions like, Which of these statements would the author agree with? and What can be concluded from the passage? are both questions of the inference type. The more you take SAT practice tests, the better you will become at figuring out what the questions are truly asking. Although the questions may be different each time you take the SAT, the format is consistent. The more you work through SAT practice tests, the more familiar you will be with how the exam is laid out as well as with the principles it tests. If you decide to commit to taking SAT practice tests in your spare time, youll be doing yourself a huge favor. Familiarity eases anxiety and increases performance. [RELATED: How is the New SAT Scored?]

Photosynthesis Finally Explained by a Qualified Personal Tutor!

Photosynthesis Finally Explained by a Qualified Personal Tutor! With GCSEs now on the horizon, Frank Iâ€"a top GCSE personal tutor at Tutorfairâ€"explains how to crack the dreaded GCSE Biology topic of photosynthesis . . . . Photosynthesis involves chlorophyll pigments, redox proteins, NADPH, the Calvin cycle…. wait, where did everyone go?  You’ve gone haven’t you?  Will you stick around if I just cut out the rubbish and get to the bits that matter? Deal?  Great! Everything that happens on this planet happens because of sunlight. Energy flows through our planet like a river. It comes in as light, leaves as heat, and somewhere in between it drives every single thing on Earth. The rushing wind, pouring rain, fluffy clouds, winter, summer and of course LIFE all come down to sunlight. But wait, people aren’t solar powered! We eat food (sugars, proteins, and fats) that supplies the energy we need to play football, write a blog post, or run in the opposite direction from someone who might try to talk to you about science.  If you’re feeling a bit drained, you can’t just stand in a field and absorb a bit of light energy… but plants CAN! And the way they do it is called photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the gateway through which that river of energy from sunlight pours into the great circle of life.The laugh of a child, the flutter of a butterfly’s wings and the roar of a lion. Just like a raging river, sunlight is always moving (at about 300 million meters per second to be precise). It’s here and then it’s gone. Now we’ve got a problem. To survive, all living organisms require a constant supply of energy every second of every day. Even if plants could live directly off that river of light, what happens at night, or in the dead of winter, or on any of the 364 days of the year in England when the sun doesn’t shine? They need to trap it. Plants need to be able to dip a bucket into that river of light, fill it up, and keep it aside for later. How? Photo(light)-synthesis(making). Making what? Plants reach out and grab carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil and use them to build their “buckets” of energy, namely sugars, fats, and proteins. This energy is then locked into the bonds between atoms of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Light energy has now been trapped as chemical energy that the plants can store until they need it. Oh, and in the process they spit out a bit of oxygen as a waste product… cheers plants! OK. So what’s this got to do with the laugh of child, the roar of a lion, blah blah blah? Well, that lion eats a zebra and steals its energy buckets (sugars, fats, proteins). Of course the zebra had just nicked those buckets of energy by eating . . . you guessed it . . . Plants!â€"which of course used photosynthesis to pour light energy into those buckets in the first place. Humans are just like the lions except we’ll eat anythingâ€"plants, other animals, even Marmite. Now there’s no point in stealing those buckets of energy if we can’t empty them back out when we need them.  And that’s called respiration which would take me AGES to explain.  Take photosynthesis, turn it around, and run it backwards.  That’s respiration.  Actually, that didn’t take long it all! So, the next time you’re in the shops, peering at the calories on the back of a packet of biscuits, just remember, those calories (energy) come from those little photosynthetic buckets: sugars, fats and proteins. When you’re counting those calories, you’re counting rays of sunshine. And when that burst of chocolate rolls across your tongue, you’re tasting starlight. Nice one plants. Fancy private biology tuition? Visit the Tutorfair website for Biology tutors. Frank  also  tutors science and maths in London. Please  check out his personal profile page on Tutorfair’s website. Leaves Photograph from  www.flickr.com  CC-by Illustrated Diagram from  en.wikipedia.org  CC-by

Why I Volunteer - Beatriz Gs Story

Why I Volunteer - Beatriz G's Story Meet Beatriz G, volunteer extraordinaire from Woodberry Down Community Primary School. In fact, Beatriz was such a fantastic volunteer tutor that she just landed a full time TA position in Woodberry’s Year 2 classroom (congrats, Beatriz!) We help her tell the rest of her story below. Before Beatriz began volunteering, she had been living in London, quite unhappily, for nearly a year and a half. She worked in a local coffee shop and as an on-call supply teacher for an independent agency, but her heart was in neither. “It is not what I came for,” she tells me. “In the morning you wake up at 7.00 a.m. and wait for a phone call [from the agency]. You cannot have another job, you cannot make more plans. You just have to go in and play teacher for one day.” When Beatriz heard about the Tutorfair Foundation’s volunteer tutor program through a community of aspiring teachers, things started to change. “[Tutorfair] makes you feel like schools and kids need you. It is not just talk . . . they’re actually doing it,” Beatriz says. “For me, that was the point [Tutorfair] made me feel confident enough [to think], ‘Okay, I’m here, I can do it.’” Although she was still working at the coffee shop in the evenings, Beatriz had finally begun to chase her dream of being a teacher. Before long, she was called upon to use that newfound confidence to tackle another challenge: a new student. “[He was] a Portuguese boy who didn’t know a word of English,” Beatriz explains, sounding a bit nostalgic. “The teacher asked me to stay with him. It was . . . complicated. Everyone thinks that Spanish [Beatriz’s first language] is very similar to Portuguese, but it's not really. “You need to to think of different ways to communicate. The other children were reading books, and I would sit with him and help him learn simple words and colors to help him communicate with the other kids. That was our main concern: how could we integrate him? How could we help him feel like he could say something?” I tell Beatriz that that must have taken constant practice and a lot of extra attention. “Definitely,” she says, “but on the last day, he was saying some words in English, and I was like, ‘Wow!’” she claps, laughing. “I felt like I helped him, somehow. Finally!” Although the story has a happy ending, it reminds Beatriz why she started volunteering in the first place, and she sobers quickly. After a beat, she explains, “I had forgotten a little bit who I am. I got [to London] and needed to [be an adult] and pay my bills and do this and do that and blah, blah, blah. “Going to the school was like opening a door for me. I knew I needed to do it, that I needed to find a way to do it somehow. My coworkers used to ask, ‘You’re doing this for free?’ And I’d say, ‘It’s brought me back, of course I’m doing it for free!’” Fortunately for both Beatriz and her students, an opportunity was soon offered that would fulfill her adult responsibilities and her passion for teaching. This fall, Beatriz will return to Woodberry as a full time Teacher’s Assistant, and she couldn’t be happier. “I’m going to learn a lot,” she says, “but I know where I am going, and that makes you feel confident and full of energy for September.” Given her well-deserved success, I figure Beatriz might recommend volunteering with the Tutorfair Foundation, but I thought I’d ask her anyway. She doesn't let me down. “Do it! Do it!” she says giddily. “Try to give it your best, and you will gain a lot in exchange.” Thanks, Beatriz! If you're a tutor, teacher or an aspiring educator looking to make a difference, visit the Tutorfair Foundation to find out how you can join the future of tutoring.

Why does your child need math - ALOHA Mind Math

Why does your child need math Math is used in various aspects of life, learning math is very important for every kid. Math skills that are picked up during early years will play a big role in the child’s success during school and everyday life. Understanding and picking up math can sometimes be a challenge, it’s the parents’ job to identify this and help the child to embrace the challenge positively in order to develop the right skills in a timely manner. Given the right tools and environment, children can pick up maths very well. It is the parents’ responsibility to provide the right tools at home and ensure it is available in school. However, sometimes, it is the parents who slack with reasons such as â€" math is not useful for career fields other than health, science, engineering etc., the parents themselves had a tough time with the subject and hence they believe the child is bound to face the same issues. Having challenges with grasping math has no relationship with intelligence levels. Before giving up on the child’s math development skills, parents need to understand the role that math plays in the child’s development. Math is used in our everyday lives to: Calculate any transactions that involve numbers like purchasing items, estimating prices, time management etc. Maintain accounts, money management etc. Do calculations that are necessary to make important decisions Apply mathematical logic to create solutions or solve problems Operate devices It is thus evident that a child needs to be able to use math skills in various scenarios of day-to-day life. Children have different methods and motivation to learn, employing techniques that consider such factors are key to learning success. Children learn math when they are able to relate numbers to real life experiences. An ideal learning environment is one where the child is able to explore and solve problems using toys and any other available information. At Aloha Mind Math we understand children and the conditions under which they best grasp mathematical concepts. In addition we use the concept of Abacus which has been proven to be a powerful tool for learning math. At Aloha we utilize Abacus to develop an overall brain development program which helps children calculate huge mathematical sums within a short period of time, and more importantly, without a calculating device. Visit our website for further information http://www.aloha-usa.com