With the 11+ exams being well on their way, I'm focusing on how our team can help parents cope during this rather stressful period.
To help us do that, complete this very short survey.
Fill it in below - it'll take just a few minutes and will allow us to help serve you better.
This week has been a wonderful one. I discovered that I've been nominated for an #EightWomen Award.
Being nominated has been an honour and it's made me realise how important it is to recognise and showcase the work of inspiring teachers, educators and business owners who are transforming how we learn in many different ways.
The teachers and educators that I'm highlighting today are game-changers, thought leaders and motivators. One by one, they're transforming the lives of children, young people and even adults, everywhere.
The first inspiring educator is Kaneisha Grayson.
I discovered Kaneisha about two years ago. Her friend (and one of my big business inspirations) Laura Roeder mentioned her at an event in London and I was immediately impressed with her business.
Kaneisha is the founder of TheArtofApplying.com; a company which specialises in providing consulting services to aspiring Harvard graduates. Since 2010, Kaneisha’s business has served over 150 clients with a combined $1.8 million in fellowships awarded from top policy and business schools in the U.S. and internationally.
One of my favourite entrepreneurs and teachers is the incredible Stacey Myers.
Stacey is a professional teacher, best-selling author and BodyByVi coach. Since starting out in the business realm, Stacey has worked with marketing industry leaders such as NY Times Bestselling authors Peggy McColl and Bob Proctor.
She is particularly amazing because she makes running multiple businesses, mentoring and teaching look like effortless. I wonder how she does it?
Renee Pena (M.S. ED,NYS) is an Early Learning educator and blogger. She is the founder of Made For You Learning, an education company which provides parents to make better educational decisions for their children.
What makes Renee's work remarkable is her passion and commitment for seeing children and their parents fall in love with learning.
Another educator who is taking the world by storm is Melissa Camilleri.
As a High School Teacher, Melissa witnessed the struggles that poorer students faced and was committed to make a change. She was determined to give back to girls in the local community and came up with an idea to do just that.
Combining business, jewellery and philanthropy, she launched her jewellery business (called Compliment) in November of 2011. A percentage of her company's sales are used for the Compliment Fund which finances the education of girls who want a better education. Melissa is a stellar example of a teacher who is using her work and business to help educate on a local and soon-to-be global scale.
Next up is a lady who has taught me a lot about teaching and the tutoring business; Adrianne Meldrum.
Adrianne is a popular tutor and is the founder of The Tutor House (a brilliant website for students and tutors alike). Her business provides both one-to-one and online tutoring services for students in her local area and additionally teaches aspiring tutors how to build successful tutoring businesses of their own.
Last but not least is Amy Isaman.
Amy is the founder of WhereTeensWrite, a website that encourages teenagers to embrace writing and improve their writing skills. Having taught at High Schools and Colleges.
Amy is a highly experienced writer herself and she is passionate about empowering the writing ability of teenagers from across the world. WhereTeensWrite is jam-packed with advice, resources and learning aids for teenagers who want to better their writing. She has created a business that positively impacts children's lives whilst proving that writing is fun.
People often ask me, 'how do you do it?' 'how do you make your lessons so enjoyable?' or 'how do you make teaching look so effortless?'
It's funny because in my mind teaching is fun, simple and not that complex. However, here are four tips to help you become a more confident teacher or tutor.
1. Use your voice. When speaking to children of any age, it's important to not speak in a monotonous tone. Doing so will make you seem boring and it'll put your students to sleep!
To instantaneously make your lessons more appealing, vary your tone of voice from high to low. Use a higher tone when making key points or emphasising a point that is important.
2. Smile. A smile can totally transform a student's perception of you. Smiling makes you more approachable making students feel more comfortable around you. This makes for effective teaching because a comfortable student is more likely to ask for help and pay more attention in lessons.
3. Think outside the box. Do you use boring worksheets or teaching resources every single lesson? If so, ditch them at least once in a while. Worksheets and teacher resources are great but they shouldn't be used in isolation. To make lessons fun try thinking outside the box. How? Take inspiration from books, films and theatre and incorporate them into your lessons. Embed your lessons with elements of things that you find interesting. For instance, I love music so I incorporate music into my lessons. I also love movies and so I use them to help me think of ideas for writing prompts and creative writing for my students.
Your homework:
Leave a comment below telling me what ideas you've come up with.
The 11+ exams are just a few short months away and as usual, many parents, students and teachers are frantically searching for 11 plus practice papers.
The importance of using practice papers cannot be overlooked; practice quite simply makes perfect and to stand the best chance of acing the exams, your child will need to practice as much as possible.
You can find a list of 11+ exam papers for schools such as Haberdasher's Aske's, Kent College, Notting Hill & Ealing, Westminster and St Paul's here.
If your child is preparing for the 11+ exams we recommend enrolling them in our 11+ summer revision course which begins on the 18th of August 2014. Click here to find out more about the course.
One of the most common questions I get from tutors is 'where can I advertise without spending lots of money?'
When I first started my tutoring business I was broke and struggling to make more than a few pounds a week. It was an incredibly tough period.
However, the fact that I built my business with such little money shows that having a mountain of money isn't necessary to build a profitable and enjoyable tutoring business.
Because I know that tutors like yourself want to market themselves in a way that's cost-effective, I spent several hours this weekend creating something that I hope you'll cherish and appreciate.
It's a list of tutoring websites in the USA, Canada and UK.
If you're not sure of what a tutoring website is, it's simply a website that lists profiles of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of tutors within specific regions. Many of these sites rank highly on Google and as a result, parents who are looking for tutors search through these sites to find a tutor for themselves or their child.
Because I'm based in the UK, I can't personally vouch for every single site listed. However, the best way to discover whether they're any good is to try them yourself.
Download the marketing swipe file here.
PS. If you're a tutor (or aspiring tutor) who'd like to learn exactly how to market your tutoring business, join the notification list for my upcoming tutoring membership club.
Have a fab week!
Victoria :)
The Tutoress
Author, Become a Private Tutor