A1 Tutors
22 Canterbury Road, Flitwick, Beds. MK45 1TZ
Tutor Line: 07758 361 516
NEWSLETTER Issue 196 July 2012
Ideas from tutors
Two months ago I asked for your suggestions regarding students who lose concentration. Here are some more ideas from Lyn Norman in Bucks.
Dear Editor
Another trick in the arsenal of getting a child to pay attention is to go completely silent and still and gaze into space and when the child asks what you are doing – as they invariably will – you then reply ‘waiting until you have the good manners to pay attention to me – that is what your parents are paying me for and we only have an hour a week!’ OR ‘Waiting until you have the good manners to pay attention to me – I have spent time and effort preparing this lesson.’ You might like to wait a few moments before replying or for the second time of asking – it points out gently that learning is a 2 way process – you can prepare a lesson all you want but unless a child chooses to engage its pointless. It also makes them feel less pressurised compared to the normal ‘nagging ‘that they get!
Never hit or poke or even tickle or tease – be constantly calm. I have been hit, poked, had books/pens/toys/games thrown at me – all sorts. If you can stay constant it reassures the child and calms them down.
Beware too of verbal teasing – it can scar a child for life as much as a physical action – sometimes more so. I recently heard of a child who is constantly (in a mainstream school) being called ‘blondie’ by the teacher. Mum complained and said she did not like it and was told that the child would have to put up with teasing when she grew up and it was good for her. The child responded by calling the teacher ‘fatty’ in answer one day and was excluded for the day. Most of me can’t blame the kid 
Although it was an immature and inappropriate way to respond to the teacher – the right way hadn’t worked!
I was constantly called ‘blind Pugh’ or ‘four eyes’ by a teacher at school and although I now wear contact lenses at 54 I am now needing glasses as well for reading – and I was very conscious of them – until one of my LEA ‘difficult’ pupils told me that it made me look especially intelligent like Professor Dumbledore from Harry Potter! Kids can be so great sometimes!
Lyn Norman, North Bucks.
Please keep your ideas coming. Sharing is caring and we can best serve our students’ interests by exchanging ideas such as these. -Ed
Beach Break update
Last month I told you about my daughter, who, as well as offering performance coaching, sang in a band in Lancaster where she was finishing her degree. She entered a contest to win a place performing at the international festival, Beach Break, in South Wales, and asked for your help by voting for her on Facebook. Now I can update you regarding the result. First of all, thank you to all those of you who took the trouble to vote for her; she was very moved to think that so many people were prepared to support her. The three acts with the most votes got to perform on a small stage, their performance also acting as an audition. The one act chosen at that performance got to perform on the main stage. Natasha’s band got enough votes to gain third place, so they played on the small stage, but unfortunately didn’t win the final contest. However, they can now boast that they’ve played on the same bill as such acts as Dizzy Rascal and Delilah, and Natasha even got Delilah to pose with her for a photo. I must admit that these acts are so famous that I haven’t heard of any of them. To be perfectly honest, I should be admitting just how out of touch I am with ‘cool’ young people.
Back to the festival; they got warning that the persistent rain was set to deteriorate into the worst storm in fifty years and they could expect as much rainfall in the next twenty four hours as would normally fall in a month. They’d bought a new tent for the occasion and two of the poles snapped during the first night. Feeling cold and wet (she had no dry clothes) they decided not to stay a second night and forwent the remainder of the festival for a roof and four walls.
So Natasha is not about to become an international rock star touring the world, which means she’ll continue to be available for performance coaching in Mid Beds. Mid Beds is exciting; it has at least one library!
You can take a look at one of her solo performances if you want to by logging onto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr3U4tQwcbQ&list=UUPVipqweki6xGiE8PSFCVHQ&index=9&feature=plcp
That’s all for another month. Don’t forget to let the office know if there are no agency fees due for June.
Have a good month,
Andy
