Should I give grinds? (Junior and Leaving cert)

Ash525

I'm looking for opinions on whether I should give grinds or not. I'm just about to start my second year of college. I'm studying science and maths with education so that I can be a maths, junior cert science and leaving cert biology teacher. I got an A grade in both higher level science and higher level maths at junior cert level, and I got an A grade in both higher level Biology and higher level maths at leaving cert level. I received a scholarship for my leaving cert results. I also got all first class honours (70%+) in my first year exams, including physics and chemistry. I will be on teaching placement once a week in the next college year. I think giving grinds would really boost my confidence and give me some practice teaching. But would it be worth my while to give grinds because I'm not qualified. I am Garda vetted though. So would parents still choose college students for grinds, or are teachers preferable? Thanks for all advice

thesimpsons

you obviously know your stuff and are achieving good grades but can you teach and instil confidence in a student ? IMO if you think you now have enough confidence to give a grind, it is worth looking around and seeing if you can find a student or two but I would stay with jnr cert for the moment. qualified teachers generally are charging 30/35e for higher lc grinds so you should be charging less than that without a qualification or experience. However, commenting as a parent, I will always choose a teacher with experience of correcting exam papers for grinds.

magicray

As a parent too, I asked a 2nd year student in Maths to give some grinds to my sons for Junior cert - he needed help actually understanding what the question was asking - once he understood that part he was well able to go ahead and answer himself
I paid him €25 for session which lasted anything from an hour to an hour and a half, it was brilliant for me to have one to one at such a reasonable cost

I would go for it but be realistic about your charges as you are not qualified yet

spurious

Being good at something is no guarantee you'll be good at teaching it.

Once you get some teacher training behind you, you'll be in a better position to know whether grinds will suit you. There is quite a difference between teaching one to one and teaching a class group.

Be careful that you are able to realise when (or if) you get out of your depth with a student. Things may have come easily to you, but this is not always the case, particularly with students who need grinds. You can end up confusing a student even more if you do not recognise the signs when they are not following you.

That said, get yourself organised in advance. Make out some notes for different abilities and different topics. Maths with its concepts is a lot more difficult to teach than a fact based subject such as Biology, as it requires a certain level of abstract thinking which not everyone has. That's just the way the world is, otherwise we would all be able to get an A in HL Maths if we worked hard. Be careful to identify such people early on, rather than waste their money, whatever rate you charge.

nerd95

I am actually going into final year of the Biology and Maths Education programme in UCD. Is this the same course as you by any chance? I think giving grinds is a valuable experience for pre-service teachers in the sense that you not only get the opportunity to further develop your skills for teaching, but you also gain insight into students’ thinking and the misconceptions that they may have developed. However, I only started giving grinds in third year because I wanted to improve my skills and knowledge for teaching first. That being said, quite a number of my classmates gave maths grinds in second year so it just depends on your own situation. I particularly felt that my peer-assisted tutoring and second level placement experiences helped me to develop my skills for teaching and provided me with a lot more confidence in myself. However, as mentioned already, there is a difference between teaching on a one-to-one basis and teaching a class group.

Also, don’t worry too much about not being qualified yet- after all, some students prefer having college students give them grinds (like a peer-tutor) so I’m sure you’ll be fine. Perhaps you could start off by giving grinds to someone you know and see whether it is something you would like to expand upon. Also, I would recommend starting with JC grinds first before LC- however, that is entirely up to you of course!

Not sure if this was of any help but if you have any further questions, just ask!

Owryan

Beware, your vetting is only applicable to your placement, not any work you do outside of it like grinds.

Vetting is for the college not for individual use

X6.430macman

If the price is right I'd go for it, to much idiots out there charging ridiculous money for grinds