Tips for Giving Grinds

bubbles89

Hi All,

I need some help. I intend on giving grinds to leaving certificate students this coming year to help me pay for my masters!!! :-(

If there is anyone out there that has any advice or tips that would help me teach students, I would really like to hear it.

I am going to give grinds in Accountancy and Economics for Leaving Certificate (ordinary and higher level) and am very confident in my knowledge of these areas as I have just recieved a First Class Honours in a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Accountancy in 2010 but any help would be much appreciated! e.g. different teaching methods, which textbooks are being used at the moment, how much to charge, where to advertise, what parts of the course should i cover, and not cover etc.


Thanks!!!!

An Fear Bocht

Take a pratical approach. Students don't want to be given the same old notes to learn after a long day at school. What you need to do is show them what they're doing, why they're doing it and how they know it's the correct thing to do. Your job essentially is to explain everything carefully and to train them not just to know the subject, but to think about it too. If you accomplish this, then the chances are that they'll go quite far.

princess764

If its a limited number of students why not ask them what they'd like you to go over? I know my grinds teacher did that for me. Saved time revising areas i didn't need and i got the help i needed! As long as you have a good knowledge of the subject - which you clearly do - you'll be fine!

bubbles89

thanks for the help guys!!!

any other suggestions are welcome too :-)

rainbowtrout

When a student comes to you:

Ask them what topics they want to do - they are paying you for the service so should be able to get what they are looking for

Find out what kind of grades they are getting in school, what level they want to do and what grade they hope to achieve, so you can pitch your material accordingly. You may have to adjust that when you meet the student and find out what they are actually like. Some students think that by going to grinds that they will mysteriously absorb the material without any effort.

Get yourself a set of exam papers for the subjects you plan on giving grinds in. Get the marking schemes from examinations.ie so you can see what kind of answers are required and how marks are dished out.

When you have done a topic with a student, perhaps go through an exam question with them. As they do it, explain where they gain and lose marks. Then get them to do one themselves.

Be realistic about what can be achieved. Don't promise them anything. For some it's just about getting to grips with some of the finer details that elude them in class, for some it's damage limitation and they just want to pass. Go through the papers and find the best way to do this by figuring out which topics come up every year, if there are any compulsory questions, which combination of questions provides the least amount of stress when it comes to learning, particularly for a weak student.

Deal with the parents, who are less likely to muck you about with cancellations than a student themselves.

JamesJB

Not trying to highjack the thread or anything, but I was thinking of giving some reasonable grind type sessions to people in 6th year of my school also, now that I have graduated. While I don't have a degree or anything, I do have the exam technique, a good grasp of how to approach the LC and a fairly impressive 'academic' resumé.

My question is this: if the going rate for grinds is between €25-35/hour, would I be justified in charging something similar, assuming my services are as beneficial to the student (from an exam perspective) as they would be from more qualified teachers?

Now, to be on topic, this is my 'plan' for how I would go about giving a grind. Consider these 'tips', OP, as an apology for butting in on your thread :cool:

- First session has 15 minutes of 'free' time, during which the student pretty much tells me what they want to do and what their aspirations are. I write all of this down, both for memory purposes and also so that I can prepare material better.

- Then, I go about explaining the relevant areas using my own notes, resources I used myself, note-taking tips, analogies, whatever works. I keep it goal oriented and casual enough (my view is that they might feel more comfortable with someone around the same age as them) that they will be relaxed.

- I tick everything off as we cover it and tell them to keep their goals on their wall so that they can track their progress. I used to do this!

So, with those tips shared, would anyone reckon that I could justify my services or would I just be chancing my arm?

Maybe_Memories

JamesJB wrote: »

This is pretty much what I'm doing.
You'd probably have to be garda vetted.

JamesJB

Maybe_Memories wrote: »

This is pretty much what I'm doing.
You'd probably have to be garda vetted.

Hmm, unless I was giving them to people I knew? (As in, people I knew well enough to be established with, but not well enough to do it for free :rolleyes:)

I'll look into it, though it's hardly a large scale operation. A few interested parties would be more than enough.

spurious

Make sure you know when you are not able to help someone improve.

Get someone who has corrected to double check anything you are correcting to make sure you're doing it at the right level. Nothing worse than a child being told by their school they are heading for a C and their 'grind teacher' assuring them they'll be getting an A.

RolandIRL

JamesJB wrote: »

My question is this: if the going rate for grinds is between €25-35/hour, would I be justified in charging something similar, assuming my services are as beneficial to the student (from an exam perspective) as they would be from more qualified teachers?

Now, to be on topic, this is my 'plan' for how I would go about giving a grind. Consider these 'tips', OP, as an apology for butting in on your thread :cool:

I don't think you would be justified. put yourself in the students position. should they go to you (someone who has no degree, and has just finished the LC. you wouldn't have much experience) or should they go to a grinds teacher (someone who's qualified and has loads of experience in teaching) for the same price? most grinds teachers are able to get the point across and make sure the student understands it. you might be excellent at the subject, but there's a big difference between being good at it, and being able to teach it to someone. there's a lot of teachers (not grinds ones) that are like this. they know their stuff but they can't teach it.

JamesJB wrote: »

- Then, I go about explaining the relevant areas using my own notes, resources I used myself, note-taking tips, analogies, whatever works. I keep it goal oriented and casual enough (my view is that they might feel more comfortable with someone around the same age as them) that they will be relaxed.

I think you spend most of your time covering what the student feels difficult. there's no point going over something at which he/she is already good (eg they might be crap at mechanics, but good at electricity in physics. there's no point spending time on electricity if they feel comfortable with it. it would be more valuable to the student to spend extra time on mechanics)

JamesJB wrote: »

So, with those tips shared, would anyone reckon that I could justify my services or would I just be chancing my arm?

i think you would be chancing your arm. there's 3rd level students who would do grinds for €15-20 and they would probably only do the subject if they were already doing it in college, so they'd have a better understanding of the material because they've gone beyond the LC.
i myself are going to do grinds this year, and i'm doing it in maths, physics, and applied maths. all of these subjects i'm doing currently in 2nd year, and so would have a better understanding than you (if you were teaching these subjects for grinds).
hope this helps ya

dan_d

Excellent thread idea OP. I am considering giving grinds in maths - as an engineer, I'm pretty solid on maths, but I was going to stick to JC to start with. My biggest worry however, is how exactly to teach it....what methods to use, as you say.

I think the first thing seems to be to find out what the student has problems with, and have a set of exam papers aswell as notes/books. That seems to be the main thing (or so I've been told). Where I think I'd run into trouble is if I had someone who was extremely weak, and realistically, didn't have enough time in just a year to learn enough to pass, and who simply didn't understand the stuff. I'm not sure how to approach a situation like that, and I don't want to put a student in a position where it comes to Christmas, or the Mocks and I have to hold up my hands and say I can't help you anymore - it's a bit late then for them to go to the Institute or somewhere and try and make up lost ground....

So yeah - tips???

JamesJB

whiteman19 wrote: »

I don't think you would be justified. put yourself in the students position. should they go to you (someone who has no degree, and has just finished the LC. you wouldn't have much experience) or should they go to a grinds teacher (someone who's qualified and has loads of experience in teaching) for the same price? most grinds teachers are able to get the point across and make sure the student understands it. you might be excellent at the subject, but there's a big difference between being good at it, and being able to teach it to someone. there's a lot of teachers (not grinds ones) that are like this. they know their stuff but they can't teach it.


i think you would be chancing your arm. there's 3rd level students who would do grinds for €15-20 and they would probably only do the subject if they were already doing it in college, so they'd have a better understanding of the material because they've gone beyond the LC.
i myself are going to do grinds this year, and i'm doing it in maths, physics, and applied maths. all of these subjects i'm doing currently in 2nd year, and so would have a better understanding than you (if you were teaching these subjects for grinds).
hope this helps ya

All fair points, though to be honest I think that in some cases (familiar ones) if I were to do sessions for even cheaper to someone I know, it'd save them the bother of paying more money into something/travelling further while still getting some help. Obviously a 3rd level student will understand the subjects better, but that still might not make them a good teacher. I suppose I forgot to mention that I've been called a good teacher and a great help to people I know who wanted some things clarified or explained :cool:

Still, I could just wait until I get through first year Science even. Thank a lot for your reply.

rainbowtrout

JamesJB wrote: »

All fair points, though to be honest I think that in some cases (familiar ones) if I were to do sessions for even cheaper to someone I know, it'd save them the bother of paying more money into something/travelling further while still getting some help. Obviously a 3rd level student will understand the subjects better, but that still might not make them a good teacher. I suppose I forgot to mention that I've been called a good teacher and a great help to people I know who wanted some things clarified or explained :cool:

Still, I could just wait until I get through first year Science even. Thank a lot for your reply.

Yes, but I think the point that was being made was that a 3rd level student or qualified teacher can be a good grinds teacher too but also have a better knowledge of the subject, the experience teaching it and possibly correcting the exams. So teaching skills being equal, can you still justify charging the same rates as teachers.

I used to do grinds, haven't done them for a couple of years, I'm a teacher and an examiner and wouldn't consider charging more than €25 if I was to take a grind tomorrow, so I can't see how a student just out of LC would be justified in charging the same rates.

rainbowtrout

dan_d wrote: »

Excellent thread idea OP. I am considering giving grinds in maths - as an engineer, I'm pretty solid on maths, but I was going to stick to JC to start with. My biggest worry however, is how exactly to teach it....what methods to use, as you say.

I think the first thing seems to be to find out what the student has problems with, and have a set of exam papers aswell as notes/books. That seems to be the main thing (or so I've been told). Where I think I'd run into trouble is if I had someone who was extremely weak, and realistically, didn't have enough time in just a year to learn enough to pass, and who simply didn't understand the stuff. I'm not sure how to approach a situation like that, and I don't want to put a student in a position where it comes to Christmas, or the Mocks and I have to hold up my hands and say I can't help you anymore - it's a bit late then for them to go to the Institute or somewhere and try and make up lost ground....

So yeah - tips???

Well that's where being a good grinds teacher comes in. You have to break it down to basics, even if it means going back to stuff they did in JC before they tackle the LC stuff. Sometimes for the very weak student it involves scrutinizing the papers to see if there is anything that can be banked on as a regular question and getting them to do it over and over again. Or if there is a question (science/maths) with a formula, that even if they don't understand the formula that they can apply it, they can learn how to slot the numbers into the right places and get the answer. It's not ideal and it's not the way it should be done and I would prefer that they understand it, but if you're doing grinds regularly you do get the very weak student who has a very poor grasp of the subject and will say 'I just need to pass maths' I don't need it for the course I'm doing next year, but I have to fulfill the requirements. It's then your job to do the best you can to get them through the exam.

JamesJB

rainbowtrout wrote: »

So teaching skills being equal, can you still justify charging the same rates as teachers.

No, I can't, even though I know people who do it. They are good at what they do, and I'd like to think that I'd be good at it, but the same rate would be unfair unless I actually worked miracles.

I used to do grinds, haven't done them for a couple of years, I'm a teacher and an examiner and wouldn't consider charging more than €25 if I was to take a grind tomorrow, so I can't see how a student just out of LC would be justified in charging the same rates.

Could you see a student giving grinds and charging less? Considering that we're always encouraged to teach and help one another (at least in my school) because students who know their stuff can help those that have problems, while simultaneously cementing their own understanding. It's mutually beneficial. Being finished in school, and thus being indifferent to 'cementing my understanding', I could take mutual benefit from a bit of extra money to help me with the expenses one runs into in college.

This isn't meant to undermine any people who are very qualified, in any way.

rainbowtrout

JamesJB wrote: »

Could you see a student giving grinds and charging less? Considering that we're always encouraged to teach and help one another (at least in my school) because students who know their stuff can help those that have problems, while simultaneously cementing their own understanding. It's mutually beneficial. Being finished in school, and thus being indifferent to 'cementing my understanding', I could take mutual benefit from a bit of extra money to help me with the expenses one runs into in college.

This isn't meant to undermine any people who are very qualified, in any way.

Yes, because you can't possibly have the same depth of knowledge that a degree holder of the subject has, and sometimes you need that knowledge to be able to answer a student's question. You don't have the experience of correcting examinations so although you can read the marking scheme the same as anyone else a good teacher or one who has corrected will be able to assess whether a student's answers would be acceptable or not.


Qualified teachers also don't need to cement their understanding. They understand and would also benefit financially from grinds.

I'm not undermining your ability, I'm just saying if a parent has the choice of paying a qualified teacher in the subject and paying a LC student and both are good teachers, and their rates are the same, they are going to go for the qualified teacher.

JamesJB

rainbowtrout wrote: »

I'm not undermining your ability, I'm just saying if a parent has the choice of paying a qualified teacher in the subject and paying a LC student and both are good teachers, and their rates are the same, they are going to go for the qualified teacher.

And that makes perfect sense. I'll bear that in mind when I'm thinking about getting my name around.

RolandIRL

JamesJB wrote: »

All fair points, though to be honest I think that in some cases (familiar ones) if I were to do sessions for even cheaper to someone I know, it'd save them the bother of paying more money into something/travelling further while still getting some help. Obviously a 3rd level student will understand the subjects better, but that still might not make them a good teacher. I suppose I forgot to mention that I've been called a good teacher and a great help to people I know who wanted some things clarified or explained :cool:

i know exactly what you mean. i was the go-to guy in my year if anyone had trouble with physics or maths. even in college, i help my friends if they have any trouble. i gave a kind of grinds to one of my friends after he failed his exams and was repeating them. i would have done it for free, but he insisted i got paid must show i helped him :cool:

i don't know what skill you would be, but someone with more experience would be able to charge more. my applied maths grinds cost €35/hour :eek: but he had been teaching since the 70's.
as i said a good knowledge of the subject doesn't guarantee you can impart that knowledge to another person. my English JC teacher was like this. she could not teach for the life of her, but somehow i scraped by

JamesJB wrote: »

Still, I could just wait until I get through first year Science even. Thank a lot for your reply.

you'll be busy enough in first year, til you find your feet in college. and no problem, i'm glad to help