Tutor-Private Teaching and Learning

Everybody knows that learning process takes a huge part of our life, because first of all we have to learn how to live. And then in the childhood and juvenility learning is the major activity according to the psychological researches. And people who do not cope with studies being a child loses many things he or she could catch just unconsciously. That is why so many universities were opened by the government to help the students to get their education. And the choice of these educational establishments is just huge. If you are looking for an online degree and distance learning program, then this article about Kaplan University is for you.

Kaplan University. Kaplan University is an educational establishment. This university provides a number of different Distance Learning Programs. Kaplan University offers career training programs that include preparation in such fields as Healthcare, Academic Policies, Military, Business, Information Technology, Legal Studies and much more. Kaplan University employees have developed a range of different strategies and techniques that allow Kaplan University students to learn more effective and to learn more. This educational enterprise provides adult education for Bachelor and Master degree programs. Educational programs that where suggested by the founder of the company were very successful and effective. In addition to the programs, Kaplan University offers Laser Grade Computer Testing. For those students that have some financial difficulties, the company offers tuition financing.

Services of Kaplan University. In addition to aforementioned training programs, Kaplan University offers educational and training programs in the many other career fields. These programs are: Administrative Office Assistant, Business Administration, Computer Networking Technician, Computer and Network Administration, Cosmetology, Criminal Justice, Dental Assisting, Digital Graphic Arts, Health Science, Massage Therapy and many others. All these educational programs offer professional instruction and assistance in learning process. The company has developed some additional tools for the students to have the immediate growth in knowledge. Besides, Kaplan University provides special enrichment programs for those students who are highly achieving. The company employs professional tutors who are able to teach, because some people can be very clever and educated but the cannot teach. Kaplan University has developed a number of programs that should help students to catch what they have missed in school. That is why it is very important to keep on studying. People have to study all their lives in order to be able to express themselves and to improve their lifestyle and position. And Kaplan University really can help.

The Internet has often been described as the biggest communications revolution since not too long ago. The Internet is considered to be a prosperous community with many million of people exchanging information, ideas and opinions. For foreign language teachers it is the perfect medium. A foreign language teacher always gets an opportunity to access for quality, authentic teaching material. With the Internet all the teaching material can be quickly and readily available from the comfort of our desks.

The Internet in the process of foreign language teaching. An access to the Internet opens up a world of possibilities for both students and foreign language teachers. The Internet gives students an access to the world knowledge they often don`t have. The Internet puts them in touch with other students of the same language around the world. The students can send their homework to their teachers by E-mail. By using the Internet the students can take part in collaborative projects on a global scale. The Internet offers a variety of topics to satisfy a diverse audience. It`s very much motivating. Through the Internet learners are exposed to authentic language that is constantly updated. Besides, the Internet gives the students the opportunity to manage their own learning, to use it outside the class.

What are the reasons to use the Internet in language teaching? There are several possible reasons for using the Internet in language teaching. The main reason is that the linguistic nature of online communication is necessary for promoting language learning. Another well-known factor is that the Internet creates optimal conditions for learning to write, because it provides an authentic audience for written communication. Foreign language teachers know that the Internet can also increase students` motivation that is important for successful learning. There are many ways of integrating the Internet activities into the class work. The teacher and his students can investigate something in collaboration with foreign partners, can create research questions, work at publications. But every teacher has to find his own way, based on the goals of the curriculum, the needs of the students and the materials and technology available.

Communication or speaking may be defined as a major learning task. Students learn better if they have positive attitude to what they are doing. Interest is a crucial factor. Teachers get excited about the lesson when they feel that their students have communicated on a level that goes beyond going through the motions, when they have engaged with the topic on a personal level. Engagement can be triggered by anything from understanding and laughing at a cartoon to what life was when you were 8 years old.

The aim of speaking tasks. Speaking tasks, presented at the lesson, are not intended principally as a grammar practice. They are connected with the certain topic, certain vocabulary and grammar. Everything is aimed at turning input into output. Such tasks are easy to set up and enjoyable to use. Most of them encourage students to talk about things that matter to them. The students can play roles, exchange invented information.

What is linguistic risk taking? Personalized, authentic tasks challenge and engage students and this encourages linguistic risk taking. When students take risks they are experimenting, testing theories about how the language works. This is an essential part of language learning. A series of challenging speaking tasks focuses on learner`s own experiences and opinions. The choice within tasks encourages students to take charge of interactions. Teachers tend to refine and improve their set pieces: jokes and stories. Students do the same. When they have the opportunity to take risk, they become more adventurous and more precise in the language they use. The first time the students do a speaking activity, they are more likely to concentrate on the content; repetition of the task means that they have more time to process the language, increase the range of vocabulary and use more syntactically complex language. While taking linguistic risk students as well as teachers achieve the main purpose of speaking tasks – they develop fluency.

Nowadays the rhythm of life is becoming faster and faster, that`s why time is considered to be the most precious treasure. Informational revolution becomes a challenge to the system of education and especially to the system of foreign language teaching. So, the foreign language teachers are in constant search of new methods which could make teaching more effective and results visible in shorter terms.

What is the intensive method of teaching foreign languages built upon? The method of intensive teaching has already shown its effectiveness. The followers of this method prove that it is built upon the principle of so-called “submersion” in the atmosphere of a foreign language. It means that students constantly stay in the flow of foreign speech: oral or written. They avoid the level of internal translation of foreign speech into native language and back. Such a submersion is made by daily involvement of students in foreign speech. In such a way students start to use the language without knowing grammar or phonetic structure. In the same way they started to use their native language. Continuous usage of role-plays in the studying is another important feature of this method. In those role-plays every student gets some role. So, he becomes another person and starts acting according to his “legend”. Students are involved in some situations during the lesson so they have no time to think over the phrases or to translate them from native language and as a result they start to use a foreign language as a means of expression.

What is a teacher`s role? The role of a teacher at such lessons is to make a dialogue or situation and to coordinate students in its flow. The professionalism of the teacher plays extremely important role in the studies as students will imitate his manner of speech and all gestures in their own expressions and he also must be able to involve all the students into the speech flow. The method of intensive teaching is based on the natural principles of mastering language by a person. This method gives teachers the opportunity not to teach about the language but the language itself.

“Enjoy them now, they will soon be teenagers!” Parents often can hear warnings like this from friends and relatives. Media images of teenagers as secretive and moody troublemakers can lead parents to expect trouble as their children develop. But are these really fair descriptions of the typical teenager? Not necessarily.
Who are modern teenagers? The research shows that family life doesn`t have to be a battleground during the teenage years. Many parents never face serious conflicts with their adolescent children and live peacefully and harmoniously with their teens by keeping communication open and making some adjustments in the way they think and act to compromise. Teens have a natural need to establish their own identity. They progress from childhood dependency to adult independence, from control of parents to self control. For parents this usually means dealing with some tension in the home as teens ask themselves “Who am I?”, “How will I get along with others?” Teens often look for the answers to these questions by challenging authority and testing rules.

What should and what shouldn`t parents do? Parents who lose their tempers, withdraw in despair can make things worse. Constant negative messages from parents can lead to hostility, indifference and withdrawal in teenagers. Whatever their doubts may be, good parents always express confidence that things will get better, support their teens` efforts, cheer them up and show their love to children. Teens need to hear from their parents that they are loved unconditionally for themselves and that their parents will stand by them no matter what. Parents should encourage their teens to assume increasing responsibility for their choices and actions, while continuing to provide appropriate supervision and guidance. It`s important for parents to remember that teenagers begin to look like adults but often act like 2-year-olds in their determination to establish their own identity.

Any process is based on definite rules and regulations. No matter if it is the process of production or the process of education. If people keep within the rules they make progress. But what happens if they don`t.

Penalties against the fixed rules.
In my childhood I once read the book about a teacher, whose name was Miss Dove. Her pupils used to call her “terrible Miss Dove”. She seemed to be the most unpleasant and absolutely heartless person. She has her special rules about children`s behavior in class. Her rules were as fixed as the signs of the zodiac. Every child knew them and he tried to keep within. If he didn`t, he could find himself in trouble. If a child introduced a pencil or a pen in his mouth, he was to wash his mouth with laundry soap. If his posture was incorrect, he had to sit for a while on a stool without a back-rest. If a page in his copy-book was untidy, he had to rewrite it. Children were afraid of leaving the class of coughing, of making any noise. Few people would defend Miss Dove`s tactics, the rest would criticize and even blame her for being cruel. They would have been amazed if they had learnt that Miss Dove`s pupils were grateful to her afterwards for being strict and demanding.

Should punishment be used in class?
In the past parents and teachers knew where they stood. The children were to be seen and not heard. The situation changed not long ago. Modern psychologists did away with spanking. The child`s happiness is all-important. But what about parents` and teachers` happiness? What should a teacher do when his pupil gaily romps about, pulling the place apart. A teacher has no right even to shout. Corporal punishment is out of the question. No modern child-rearing manual would permit such barbarity. Where is the way out? Not all kinds of punishment are acceptable but it is inevitable as a phenomenon to control discipline. A tutor has got enough time and opportunities for watching and analyzing his pupil`s behavior. This is an advantage of a tutor`s position in comparison with a teacher`s work at school. If the process of learning is individualized, it would be unwise to shout and to moralize while communicating eye to eye. Sometimes a tutor`s intonation and the expression of his face can be the severest punishment for a pupil. If the device works it shows that a tutor has succeeded.

The question of freedom for children is quite a contradictory one. The usual argument against freedom for children is the following: Life is hard and we must train the children so that they will fit into life later on. We must therefore discipline them. If adults allow children to do what they like how they ever be able to obey their teachers at school, to serve under a boss? How they ever be able to exercise self-discipline.

What does freedom stand for.
What do we usually mean when we speak about freedom? What is it fir? And what is being free? Who is responsible for child`s being free or not? His parents? His teachers at school? May be all his surroundings? The freedom, the happiness and well-being of children depend on a degree of love and approval the adults give them. But, if there is too much love? Is it good, when a child roams the streets after school, because he is free to decide when he is to come home and what to do? Do his parents really trust him or only pretend to do so? Do his parents really love him if they permit him to watch TV for hours or come back home late at night? The answer is obviously negative. The parents` desire to give their child freedom turns out to be a disaster.

Free or obedient.
Another question is: what should a tutor do with a child who is quite uncontrollable because of parents` lax authority and permissiveness. Children are hardy creatures and gradually they can overcome the consequences of parents` permissiveness. A qualified tutor is able to assist them in the process of recovering. It doesn`t mean that a tutor is to impose anything by authority. It could be wrong. Obedience is necessary, but it must come from within – not be imposed from without. Children need love, but not less they need respect. A strict and respectful tutor is able to assist his pupil in becoming self-disciplined and responsible.

Learning is not at all a bed of roses and a tutor knows it better than anyone else. There are lots of difficulties on the way of getting knowledge. They can be of a different kind, but the main one may be a child who is taught by a tutor, that is, a pupil himself. In teaching practice such a child is usually called a difficult child.

Whom can we name a difficult child?
So, who is he? Is he someone who is always cheeky and rude to everyone, who is irresponsible and undisciplined? Does he break windows or burn his hated books in the fireplace? Nothing of a kind. The difficult child is the child who is unhappy. He is at war with himself and in consequence he is at war with his parents, his teachers at school, his tutor and with the whole world.

Who and what can make a child difficult.
A child is almost always made difficult by improper treatment at school and at home. The conditioned, repressed, submissive child can be met in every corner of the world. He lives in every town, in your street, next door to you. The difficult child is prone to obey, he is afraid of any criticism. He desires to be conventional and correct, that`s why he can`t stand his mistakes. He accepts what he has been taught without question. He never asks questions and has no idea how to do it. It seems to be quite convenient for his busy parents and for a tutor who is indifferent to his pupil, who doesn`t care much about the results of his work. Such a tutor is sure that his main and only duty is to give some useful information and nothing more. He isn`t able to see the way his pupil hands down all his complexes and fears. Or he just doesn`t want. He turns a deaf ear and blind eye to the child`s problems. An unqualified tutor takes it for granted that a child should be taught to behave in such a way that the adults will have as quiet a life as possible.

What can prevent a child from becoming difficult.
Home plays many important roles in the life of a growing child. It gives him love, sense of security, it educates and defends him. If a child lives in a broken home or with heartless, indifferent parents he may turn more to trusted adults outside the family for ideas, knowledge and love. In this situation a tutor`s personality is the first to be mentioned. If a tutor is frankly honest with his pupil, honest without moralizing understand and trust will thrive.

There is a problem that every person faces sooner or later. This problem resolves itself into a few important questions: What is education for? Why study? What way of learning is more efficient? Most of us will be quick to answer. It is a common knowledge that education helps us cope in the modern rapidly developing world where we are to add money up, to fill the tax declarations in, to read maps and street signs. No doubt, we are speaking only about the lowest level. It is a first step on the way to getting education. On the next level everything is getting more complicated, because one should think of some kind of job that will give an opportunity to succeed in life.

We still live in a very competitive society. Competition has been the driving force behind improvements in most areas of our life. The existence of competition has always meant to do things quicker and better than others do. If a person wants to be a successful competitor he is to decide what way of learning will assist him to achieve a long-held ambition and to rise to the top of a chosen profession.

Certainly, there is no right or perfect learning style. Everyone is, to some degree, a mixture of various learning styles. If a teacher at school fails to find out a pupil`s domineering learning style, a tutor is a person who can help in such a situation.

To be properly enjoyed, the process of learning shouldn`t be organized in big groups. If a child is usually surrounded by other children at a primary school, a senior pupil is always accompanied by his fellow students, it is no longer learning in anything but name. Other students may crowd child`s meandering impressions with their own, they may mislead him and obstruct his view.

If a tutor works with a person things seem to be different. A student is able to stop and go on, to have his own pace, he can be open to all impressions and let his brains take all the information from what he sees, hears or reads in a company of his tutor. The work eye to eye with a tutor is particularly important while learning a foreign language.

Learning a foreign language is not just a matter of memorizing, it is closely connected with our personality and culture. Quite an important factor is a tutor`s personality. The atmosphere during the lesson is determined by a tutor, who sets the tone by choosing the types of exercises and topics, suitable for a certain pupil. A qualified tutor can catalyze in his pupil the irresistible wish to obtain knowledge, to do it every day and everywhere, to learn something new and to become something new.

A person can get knowledge in smaller or bigger groups, the number doesn`t matter. If a tutor is in charge of the process, one`s getting knowledge turns into learning for the sake of learning and afterwards for the sake of one`s successful future. What else can be more important…

How many mistakes does a person make during his life? Can anybody in the great social science industry tell us? Even to the nearest ten thousand? I doubt it and I think I know why. It`s impossible to imagine our life without mistakes.

People are always in the process of learning.
We are always learning. We are learning to walk, to speak, to add, to multiply, to love and work. Our learning skills are quite often much to be desired. Even if we don`t notice our mistakes and don`t feel silly about them, life does everything possible to point our mistakes out to us or to correct. We cannot obtain knowledge without making mistakes, so a teacher is a person whose job is closely connected with an endless stream of errors and constant correcting. A foreign language teacher deals with mistakes at every lesson. He knows a lot about errors, their sorts and ways of correction.

The teacher`s role in the process of correcting mistakes.
The process of learning is connected with constant interchange between a teacher and a pupil. The activities, a foreign language teacher chooses, will run themselves as soon as they get underway. A teacher has to decide whether to join in the activity as an equal member or remain in the background to help and observe. The first way has a number of advantages: the psychological distance between a teacher and a pupil may be reduced and a pupil gets to know his teacher better. Of course, a teacher has to refrain from continually correcting the pupils or using his greater skill in the foreign language to his advantage. But if a teacher joins in the activity, he will then no longer be able judge independently and give advice and help his pupil, which is a teacher`s major role if he doesn`t participate directly. A further advantage of non-participation is that a teacher may unobtrusively observe the performance of several pupils in the foreign language and note common mistakes for revision at later stage. Whatever method is chosen, a teacher should be careful not to correct pupils` errors too frequently. Being interrupted and corrected makes a pupil hesitant and insecure in his speech when he should really be practicing communication. It`s better for a foreign language teacher to use the activities for observation and to help only when help is demanded by a pupil himself.