English Tutor - Stephanie Tupaea

It's been a while since I've posted, but I'm still tutoring. Most of my lessons are contracted out, but I'm also teaching five students of my own, mostly in preparation for Senior Cambridge exams. I have to be careful about taking too much on, so I'm currently not taking on any more students. I am happy to put you on a waiting list though, and my marking/consultation services are still available.

If you are a home educator and looking for some fresh ideas or ways to tailor English to your child's needs, then please reach out. Likewise, if your child has written an essay or creative writing description and you'd like to know where it sits and ways to improve it, then please reach out. I am passionate about the subject and have lots of expertise to share!

Should you teach students all the jargon like metaphors, proper nouns, and intransitive verbs? Yes and no.

The main considerations need to be the students' readiness and whether introducing such terminology will actually be beneficial.

Today I'm delivering a lesson on simple sentences and sentence fragments. I'm not going to talk about intransitive and transitive verbs specifically, but I will use child friendly speech to teach the concept. I will ask them what dependence means and relate it to their lives. Then I will connect that idea to the way that some verbs (transitive verbs) need or depend on an object to make sense. This way, the kids won't drown in unnecessary jargon.

This doesn't mean that we never introduce terms; rather, we exercise discernment about when and what types of terms we teach. The class above will explicitly be taught the terms of subject, verb and object, because it's necessary to teach them other things and it's age appropriate.

I'm also making sure that I don't preface the learning with jargon, which, let's face it, is very passive and dull. Instead, I'm beginning the lesson by using novelty and intrigue. I'm relating it to their lives. After I've done this, I can safely teach terminology because they are engaged and they understand what I'm talking about.

American curriculums can be very thorough with their teaching of language, and from an early age. The New Zealand education system can sometimes not be robust enough. There's a good balance in between that I like.

Next week is all about Creative Writing 🖊 My Year 7 & 8 and Year 10 & 11 courses are starting. There are still spaces available, especially for the latter. The times are as follows:

Year 7 & 8:
Monday and Tuesday at 11am

Year 10 & 11:
Monday and Wednesday at 10am

Two assignments are given each week, with them both due on Friday to give me enough time to mark and return them before the following week.

The price is $19 per week or $95 for the entire course.

I have the Course Schedule available for those wanting a detailed learning sequence.

The return to school this year has been met with a lot of uncertainty, confusion and anxiety.

Families want normality for their children, because they have experienced first-hand the effects of such disrupted learning.

For the past two years, I have taught during the pandemic and what I've learned has been transformative to my teaching philosophy.

Please click on the link below to find out how 👇

What I’ve learned from teaching through the Covid-19 pandemic – English Tutor What I’ve learned from teaching through the Covid-19 pandemic Leave a Comment / Online learning / By Stephanie Tupaea What I've learned from teaching through the Covid-19 pandemic I’ve taught the entire way through the pandemic and what I’ve learned has shaped my pedagogy forever. Teaching at ...