Jacob

I am a History and Spanish student at UCL with a passion for education and years of tutoring and coaching experience.

Tutoring should not just be about passing on information, but equipping students with the tools to work more effectively by themselves. It’s thus a process of building skills for life rather than just knowledge.

I like to take this process slowly and discuss with the student their likes and dislikes, perceived strengths and weaknesses and any hopes or fears they may have about their future. Later on in the process I can then come back to these factors they mentioned, and explain, for example, what it really means to be ‘good’ at this or ‘bad’ at that. This helps them to think more deeply about their abilities and become more willing to work harder.

I also like to ask hypothetical questions to see the way they think whether it’s more creative, analytical, mathematical or interpersonal. This, combined with questions about the activities they most enjoy in class, helps me to see how they learn best. I can also see how they think by discussing other things unrelated to school that they enjoy. This also helps to build the relationship with the student and makes it more enjoyable for them.

Using a variety of learning techniques makes the student more receptive to information as they’re more entertained. We might design posters and flashcards, draw graphs and tables, complete mind maps and powerpoints, or play word games to help reinforce the information. This is more interesting than simply taking notes.

At the end of sessions I like to test the student’s memory in order to summarise the content learned. I also cover how they can test themselves after I’m gone. I ask them about their daily schedule so I can suggest where and how best to complete the task. This task may involve one of the activities completed in the session, so they know how to absorb information more creatively, efficiently and independently.

Availability: Available Mondays, evenings and weekends.

Willing to travel: 5 miles

Experience: -Six months with Danny Kalman on his AS Level History and Spanish courses, with two sessions a week, and more in the run-up to exams. Our focus during this time was on exam technique, while we covered Stalin’s Russia and Mao’s China.

-Two weeks with Alaia De Santis, an AS Level student who needed help with essay-writing to accompany her fine-art projects. We completed several essays together and annotated all of the work in her portfolio.

-Three months working as a careers coach with the Teach First Frontier Frontiers project. We worked with underperforming GCSE students at a school in Hackney to motivate and inspire them, and to help them realise their skills and potential career paths.

-One year working as a GCSE mentor whilst I was an A2 Level (Year 13) student at Bournemouth School Sixth Form. I taught Geography, Spanish and English Literature to students in Year 10. I helped with homework and revision-related queries and also more personal issues such as bullying, making friends and exam stress.

-One month working as a Student Ambassador for incoming UCL students. I talked to them about my first-year experiences at the university, taught them how to complete their online module selections, answered queries about my halls and the history department and showed them around those places.