What should I expect from a GP tutor?

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Fri, 23 Dec 2016 10:46:40 GMT

365psych — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 10:46:40 GMT

The GPCounsel fellow advertise until no more classes now. Some more advertise 'leading gp tuition…" who gave you that title, ah? Just asking hor.

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Wed, 21 Sep 2016 07:11:51 GMT

CuteCuteMommy — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 07:11:51 GMT

The Art of General Paper: Ancient Military Strategies Applied to Writing Essays

Admin, please delete if not appropriate. Thanks

http://avanguardearts.wixsite.com/avanguarde/single-post/2016/09/20/The-Art-of-General-Paper-Ancient-Military-Strategies-Applied-to-Writing-Essays

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Fri, 19 Aug 2016 06:22:25 GMT

The GP Counsel — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 06:22:25 GMT

The GP Counsel

http://www.thegpcounsel.com

FREE TRIAL LESSON
SUBSEQUENT LESSON @ ONLY $30/hour

Leading GP Tuition (For JC) & English Tuition, English Enrichment for Sec 1-4 by RJ, NUS lawyer with 5 years' exp
- Guaranteed results - 80% A track record
- Convenient location (Marymount MRT)
- Quality content & skills.
- Detailed notes, guidelines and practice sessions.
- Our students are challenged to read, write and think beyond their years, with sophistication, maturity and clarity.
- Friendly and comfortable learning environment.

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Fri, 19 Aug 2016 06:20:03 GMT

The GP Counsel — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 06:20:03 GMT

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Fri, 20 May 2016 07:40:29 GMT

The GP Counsel — Fri, 20 May 2016 07:40:29 GMT

The GP Counsel

http://www.thegpcounsel.com

FREE TRIAL LESSON
SUBSEQUENT LESSON @ ONLY $30/hour

Leading GP Tuition & English Tuition by RJ, NUS lawyer with 5 years' exp
- Guaranteed results - 80% A track record
- Convenient location (Marymount MRT)
- Quality content & skills.
- Detailed notes, guidelines and practice sessions.
- Our students are challenged to read, write and think beyond their years, with sophistication, maturity and clarity.
- Friendly and comfortable learning environment.

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Sun, 03 Jan 2016 16:03:18 GMT

ChalkboardTutorial — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 16:03:18 GMT

The GP Counsel makes interesting remarks on what we can expect from him

As a fresh graduate from JC, I would like to make a few additions and what we practice at the Chalkboard (https://chalkboardtutorial.wordpress.com/

Every student has his/her own voice that should (perhaps, almost) never be re-written over. Expecting the student to follow the tutor's style of writing limits the student from sharpening his/her own techniques. It might even represent the tutor's frustration to see the student improve, \"I have no idea how to help you, so let me just help you write a model essay alright?\". Instead, there are a few coaching methods that my team and I have used to help our batchmates and juniors to achieve the grades they desire.

1. Clarifying ambiguities
This is the perennial problem. Most students have at least one or two valid arguments in a GP essay, however, they are not sufficiently clarified; they are vague and imprecise. As coaches, we help our students find out what they were arguing for in the first place, and find ways to clarify what they are saying. Getting them to re-write their thesis statements and topic sentences helps our students to master their thought-to-writing process.

2. Generating arguments
Where there is a lack of arguments, our students will freeze at their pens. At Chalkboard, we like to teach content to our students in the form of arguments rather than disparate facts and figures.

There is so much a GP tutor can do, but not many are in touch with the subject or willing to go far enough with the student.

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Sun, 03 Jan 2016 09:40:34 GMT

The GP Counsel — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 09:40:34 GMT

To address Lavina's query on what a parent or student should expect from a GP tutor, I would like to offer my personal views from the perspective of a GP tutor (being one myself).

As the subject name implies, General Paper is so broad in scope that there is no precise syllabus outline to adhere to. This is unlike other H2 subjects where the syllabus and topic learning outcomes are clearly defined at the outset. This would accordingly increase the variance and variety of teaching techniques applied by both school teachers and private tutors for GP, although the core objectives remain the same:

1. to engage with students on hot-button issues and current affairs;
2. to distil the complex into the succinct; and
3. to empower them to read, think and write critically.

GP is ultimately a reflection of a student's maturity of thought and knowledge of current affairs, which he or she must express in a logical, well-structured and cogent manner. It is about clarity of expression in writing. GP is not about the ability to describe or narrate, it tests your ability to critically evaluate, reason logically, weigh competing interests and adopt a nuanced and balanced view on a particular hot-button issue.

The tutor's technique of making general comments (e.g. citing examples and statistics to substantiate points) is definitely valid. This mirrors what school teachers do when marking scripts and giving general feedback on essays. Perhaps you feel that your son is not learning much because he is not able to assimilate the comments and translate them into constructive arguments which are reflected in his essays.

If this is the case, you may wish to consider engaging a tutor who is not only able to review his essays, but also rewrite, rephrase and reframe the key arguments and analysis. This customization process would, from experience, empower your child to be the steward of his own learning and also facilitate an unprecedented improvement in his GP results at an exponential rate.

What I feel is of utmost importance is a thorough re-write of his submitted work, followed by a personalized review and analysis of his strengths and weaknesses, and how to improve on subsequent essays.

Instead of making general comments and then expecting the student to figure out how to incorporate those comments into subsequent essays (a common practice in schools these days due to large class sizes) it is absolutely critical to show the student the manner in which he can weave those ideas into his existing essay.

This is one of the best ways to enlighten students and instil confidence in them because they now have the keys to open doors they never thought they could.

The GP Counsel
http://www.thegpcounsel.com

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Thu, 28 Feb 2013 07:55:59 GMT

Quintessential Mum — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 07:55:59 GMT

Lavina:
Hi,

my son is in jc1. maybe that's why the tutor is still quite relax and reassures me that he will improve over time.
Ya, I wish I know how to motivate him. Last week I asked him to rewrite his first school assignment because I though it was not good. Yesterday he told me his teacher mentioned that his essay was one of the better ones. So I said \"it was worth it to rewrite then\" and he said \"not worth it\". Donno what to say...

Well, in JC there is less than 2 years to prepare for the A level exams. So time is precious and any effort spent should be a value added effort. There is so much that you can do as a parent even more so now that he is going to be 17. He must want it for himself. Wait for the 1st test and see how he does. By the way, what mark did he get for the essay, content and language?

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Thu, 28 Feb 2013 02:19:18 GMT

Lavina — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 02:19:18 GMT

Hi,

my son is in jc1. maybe that’s why the tutor is still quite relax and reassures me that he will improve over time.
Ya, I wish I know how to motivate him. Last week I asked him to rewrite his first school assignment because I though it was not good. Yesterday he told me his teacher mentioned that his essay was one of the better ones. So I said "it was worth it to rewrite then" and he said "not worth it". Donno what to say…

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Thu, 28 Feb 2013 01:52:34 GMT

Quintessential Mum — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 01:52:34 GMT

Hi Is your son in J1 or J2? If the former, you may have time to take a wait and see approach. If the latter, you may want to identify the problems quickly as the A levels are 8 months away and GP is not an easy subject to tackle without the proper skills and most importantly attitude. Just my 2 cents worth. All the best!

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:42:39 GMT

365psych — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:42:39 GMT

Lavina:
... I paiseh to interrupt ...

Don't paiseh. You are paying for a service. In fact, you should ask questions...it will be a game changer.

But, GP cannot be learned passively. The student cannot be a sponge. If it goes on like this, might as well not have tuition. Don't know if you want to see if grades change without tuition.

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:27:29 GMT

Han Seo — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:27:29 GMT

365psych:
thoughtfulminds:
[quote=\"Han Seo\"]
As the spouse of Hanseo who has been teaching this subject in 2 colleges in the last 14 years, I have seen the subject develop in the degree of technical difficulty in both the essay and comprehension components and this subject is substantially more difficult than O level English.

Sorry, but I've been tripping over the phrase, \"As the spouse of Hanseo who has been teaching...\" You mean your hubby/wife teaches? Does it also mean that spouse of Hanseo teaches English at O Level?[/quote]It's my hubby. He is a GP teacher. He has taught GCE 'O' level English before but that was quite some time back.

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:54:05 GMT

Lavina — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:54:05 GMT

Thank you for all the replies.

I think I will eavesdrop on the lessons more closely going forward.
Problem is my son dislikes the subject and is very passive. Then I paiseh to interrupt or post questions also.
Hopefully the tutor (current jc teacher) can help.

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Wed, 27 Feb 2013 07:33:41 GMT

365psych — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 07:33:41 GMT

thoughtfulminds:
Han Seo:

As the spouse of Hanseo who has been teaching this subject in 2 colleges in the last 14 years, I have seen the subject develop in the degree of technical difficulty in both the essay and comprehension components and this subject is substantially more difficult than O level English.

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:53:19 GMT

Han Seo — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:53:19 GMT

Not convenient to reveal here publicly.

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:32:52 GMT

Han Seo — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:32:52 GMT

Hi, I think both365Psych n Quinessential Mum have facets that are important to consider. The ability of the student to learn to frame his writing to be both relevant and insightful is a combination of processing/critical evaluation skills of ideas (gleaned from examples) and technical writing skills of vocabulary and sentence structure. Both areas are significantly challenging tasks and your tutor has to be able to show your child how to do it and then to allow your child to practise both critical evaluation and language skills.

As the spouse of Hanseo who has been teaching this subject in 2 colleges in the last 14 years, I have seen the subject develop in the degree of technical difficulty in both the essay and comprehension components and this subject is substantially more difficult than O level English. Hope this helps.

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:21:20 GMT

365psych — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:21:20 GMT

I would say that a GP tutor has to focus on two aspects in teaching GP. One is skills. Skills in analysing and framing the essay question, paragraph development, using logic and other persuasive techniques just to name a few. The second aspect is knowledge. Learning about tons and tons of new things is NOT essential. Application is more important.

Just my point of view: if the teacher is not giving 2-3 different articles (from different sources) on the same issue, then I think using the article for discussion is useless. I can elaborate more on this, but I think that just making intelligent talk during tuition is not the way to approach GP. Learning to see the big picture is important. What is even more important is to apply the big picture to specific situations.

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Wed, 20 Feb 2013 06:41:22 GMT

Quintessential Mum — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 06:41:22 GMT

Hi

First of, what are your GP Tutor’s qualifications and experience? Based on that, you can set your expectations.

If for example, the GP Tutor is a certified teacher and has taught the subject at JC level. He or she should be well equipped to teach the skills required to handle GP Comprehensions and Essays. The content/knowledge is something that the student has to acquire and obtain through reading newspapers, magazines etc.

Cheers

Reply to What should I expect from a GP tutor? on Wed, 20 Feb 2013 05:31:24 GMT

mensch — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 05:31:24 GMT

Hi Lavina

Not an easy job (being the parent or the tutor! ), but here are some suggestions.

For the essays, if what your son is missing is evidence, you could ask the tutor to point him toward some good, quick sources, where he can read up about topics he's interested in. These could be books with compilations of quotes or famous speeches, or even websites of periodicals like The Economist that cover current issues with more depth and context.

The step up from writing mostly narrative English essays in secondary school to writing about intellectual and political issues in GP is quite substantial. Many kids do feel a little overwhelmed. Perhaps after some initial spoonfeeding of ideas and quotes from the tutor, your son can then progress to putting together his own lists of examples.

Discussing articles is important because the comprehension paper has a large 10 mark \"instant response\" short essay at the end, where the students have to write intelligently about the passage they're given.

However, there are also lots of standalone questions in the comprehension that involve paraphrasing and summary skills. So if he's not getting much practice on that, could ask tutor to do some work with him on that too.

Best of luck!