Secrets of Success - Online Teaching

Well, next week, I have nine (yes that's right nine :-O) 1:1 online sessions booked teaching at eduFire! I feel so buoyed up by it all that I am going to share my 'Secrets of Success' here. Eat your heart out Stephen Covey, here are Mair's top 5 things to do to be a successful online tutor:

1. Teach for Exams

Students studying for exams are serious.  They want to pass.  They want to do well.  They, or their parents, will be very willing to pay to get high quality help that will improve their chances of success.

2. Make Sure People Who are Doing Exams Know about You

Despite the wonders of technology and social media and the fact that you are working online, word of mouth via real people is still the most effective way to get new customers.  If people hear of you that way, they are somehow more inclined to see you as a real person than if they meet you online. I have a couple of students who have found me via the eduFire site, but more have come via my sister, who homeschools her own children and who can mention me when other homeschoolers are looking for help.  Once you have a few students, they will mention you to others too; at least they will if you can provide what your students need.

3. Be Very Good at Teaching for Exams

I use a method which works very well for me and my students.  I aim my teaching directly at the syllabus.  I take the syllabus and make notes against it for each topic.  I highlight anything the student needs to memorise in red.  I make the notes very short and focused.  I teach using these notes and give the notes to the student.  I do examples with the student referring to the notes and I make sure the student can do examples unaided before I move on.

4. Be Very Good at Coaching for Exams

This is how I coach, once the syllabus is covered.  I work through the oldest exam paper I have with the student.  I then set the next oldest exam paper I have for the student to do for homework.  Before the next lesson, they do it and send it to me (scanned and emailed).  I mark it.  In class, I praise the good bits and reinforce any good habits shown in the work.  I explain the problems and make sure the student understands how to put them right.  We put them right together.  I give the student the next oldest exam paper ... etc. When we have done 5 or so past papers in this way, students are usually scoring in the 90%s and can go to the exam full of confidence and with a very, very high probability of success.

5. Care about Your Students' Success

Your students are going to pick up in a very few minutes whether you do this or not and, if they see that you do, you will very quickly find you are working together with real enthusiam and pleasure towards the same goal. Teaching is then a great joy as well as a business venture.


I wish all online tutors the success they deserve, because I know how hard they have to work for it :-)

Moving on with Online Tuition

Well, the great new CLEP opportunity didn't really materialise. It seems America is not quite ready for online learning or perhaps we seemed to be asking too much commitment up front. For whatever reason, only a couple of CLEP classes went ahead and those with only 2 pupils each.

I decided to concentrate on 1:1 classes and suddenly found both Maths and Latin students waiting in the wings. Part of this new success if definitely due to personal recommendations, but one newcomer wandered in through seeing me on eduFire so perhaps all the CLEP publicity wasn't wasted. My weekly earnings are still lower than I hoped, but they are increasing and I have total control over what I accept and when I schedule lessons. I am not sure I have found the final answer, but I have a small steady income and I enjoy the company of my students. Things are looking up a little :-)

Great New eduFire opportunity - for students and for me.

.... and then, just when I was beginning to think that making an online living was all too difficult, and had started reading conventional job adverts with real interest, along came this....


eduFire, the online learning site where I have been teaching Latin for the last year or so, came up with an initiative to deliver preparatory courses for an type of American exam called CLEP. This allows students in many parts of the world to demonstrate achievement to universities that award credit for CLEP qualifications and to use their CLEP qualification to obtain credit towards a university degree. This is brilliant for students, because it is relatively inexpensive way of obtaining degree credit (see current fee here). Students simply have to register at any CLEP testing centre and take an exam. All they need to do is make sure they have the learning to pass that exam well enough to gain credit at any university that awards credit for CLEP. Each university has its own minimum mark for award of credit. You can see the College Board recommendations here, but need to check policy with the college of your choice.

So ... how is this good news for me? Well, I am very excited to have the opportunity of teaching the CLEP College Mathematics preparatory class @eduFire! This class will run for 10 weeks, with two sessions per week. It will cover the entire CLEP College Mathematics syllabus and include plenty of practice with exam questions so that students are really well prepared to take the exam. It will use a wide variety of online materials and communication methods to give students the best support possible in achieving this 6 credit module. All this will cost just $400 for the full course plus around $30 dollars to cover the course text book and CLEP exam guide.

So .... things are looking rosier all round, for me and for students. There is even a free overview class early in the new year where students can come and have a look at me and find out more about the full course. If you are interested in an inexpensive, effective and enjoyable way to earn college credit, please do come along. Looking forward to meeting you :-)