Happy Easter!

As a home tutor, my employment can sometimes be viewed as a mere business transaction. My efforts beyond the remuneration I receive can at times go unnoticed. Around Easter, however, I am sometimes touched by small gestures from appreciative parents - thoughtful treats - reminding me that my efforts are seen. Those moments stay with me, affirming the extra time and energy I put into every tutoring session. Thank you to the parent who gave me these gorgeous choccies! I am taken aback by your generosity and thoughtfulness. - Mel

Never lose touch with your inner child...

Throughout my years as a teacher, I’ve noticed that some students think in ways that genuinely surprise me. They often approach ideas from angles I hadn’t considered, and their observations can feel strikingly honest and insightful. I remember moments when a simple comment completely shifted how I understood a concept. These contributions don’t always follow expected patterns, but that’s what makes them so valuable. They remind me to pause and listen more carefully. Time and again, I have found that students are capable of offering perspectives that deepen learning in ways I could never have planned. - Mel

Benefits of Home Tutoring

What are the benefits of MD Home Tutoring?

• Face-to-face teaching in a familiar setting where distractions are limited;

• The opportunity for me to quickly identify gaps in learning and personalise activities to promote engagement;

• Constant interaction, clear explanations and visual demonstrations that are not always possible in other educational settings.

Please get in touch to initiate an exciting educational journey for your child/ren. - Mel

Using AI for writing tasks in the classroom

 

It's hard to imagine the long-term effects of the use of AI on students' writing development. Many argue that the composition of unique text is no longer a necessary requirement for most people. This is probably true in numerous professions, where communications, emails and other texts aren't highly specific in nature.

But what concerns me most as a teacher is the gradual inability of students to think for themselves. Using AI for text composition has the potential to extinguish novel ideas and discourage personal insights.

The process of writing requires students to synthesise ideas and make new connections. It is through this arduous and challenging process that deep understandings can develop. I like to think of writing as 'the construction of thought'. Concepts will never be fully understood by students who can't authentically work through them and assimilate them with existing knowledge. 

Therefore, in order to teach students the skill of articulating their own thoughts, we need to become more inventive as educators. We need to redesign writing tasks to ensure that students have ample opportunities to consider possibilities without the influence of AI-generated brainstorms. 

I believe students should engage in daily opportunities to record and explain their ideas. I prefer for this to be done collectively, recorded in books or on sheets of paper. This improves student creativity and encourages risk-taking (i.e. no idea is a bad idea - it's all part of the process). Furthermore, a focus on formative assessment of the writing process, which includes outlines and rough drafts, places less focus on the final task in determining grades.

Writing should never be about the regurgitation of other people’s ideas to prove understanding. It's a highly rigorous process that gives students the opportunity to create new ways of thinking and knowing. - Mel

Gifts of appreciation...

The chocolate boxes I received from tutoring parents in 2025

Since I am a part-time specialist teacher in a school, my contribution can definitely be forgotten. Whilst words of appreciation are sometimes received from colleagues for going above and beyond, direct thanks from parents can be rare. In short, parents don't really know of me and may not realise just how much I care about the education of their child. Sometimes students see their classroom teachers as the 'real' teachers and view me as a 'subsidiary' teacher who enters their academic life from time to time. Over the decades, I have stayed back after school or even come in on school days as a volunteer to provide students with additional assistance just because I care. It's this same level of dedication that I apply to MD Home Tutoring. The difference is that my efforts and extra time are sometimes acknowledged in the form of words of thanks and gorgeous gifts! I received a few generous presents at the conclusion of 2025, for which I am extremely grateful. I don't know what it is about me that screams quality chocolate, but these treats certainly hit the spot after a busy year of preparing for, travelling to and tutoring students as part of my small business. - Mel

Some co-workers in schools

I recently read a quote that resonated with me: "What they hate in you is missing in them." I can certainly relate to this in terms of my work ethic within the school system. See, I came from an undergraduate experience that pushed us extremely hard. We were teaching small lessons to real kids in Week 3 of our teaching degree as 18-year-olds. We needed to attend uni 5 full days per week, starting at 8:30 in the morning. No sleep-ins for us; no relaxed days working from home; no earnings possible during work hours. Some lucky ones were able to plead their case and get Fridays off since some sessions had been organised to squeeze into the first 4 days of the week. So when I'm pegged as being overly dedicated as a teacher, it's because some of my co-workers believe:

• school is for socialising and having a party as well as teaching;
• 'winging' lessons is good enough when you have the hubris to pull it off;
• working hard makes others look bad (I have been told this);
• hard workers are martyrs for the cause (I have also been told this);
• there are no prizes for finishing off tasks after school, so why bother?

My response to these attitudes is:

• some sharing and laughs are okay but not when it adds up to hours of time;
• decent planning should go into lessons to cater fairly for students;
• the salary is good overall, so working hard during school hours is par for the course;
• people who work hard are merely doing their jobs (they might need to go beyond due to a lack of funding or support);
• some teachers seem to think the 7.6 hours printed on their payslip is literal when in fact it is indicative of school-based hours only. There are many more hours that teachers are paid for (e.g. school holidays) that form part of their total hours.

I'm just so glad I recognised what teaching in schools was becoming a few years ago. I started my own tutoring business where teaching, and teaching well, is the sole focus. In fact, parents wouldn't have it any other way! The pay might be less, but my passion for teaching is still alive and well. - Mel