Jamie Loewer is a Mathematics and Science Coordinator at The Learning Center. She has been in Beijing since June 2012. beijingkids met up with Loewer to talk about Math tutoring. See Part 1 of our interview here.

What do you like most about tutoring?
I like that it has given me the opportunity to work every day with something I am so passionate about.  Not only that, but working with so many students from different grade levels has allowed me to better appreciate how all the different topics in mathematics are related to each other. I have also found it really interesting to see the different teaching styles within the different schools that my students attend.  I may have worked with students on similar content, but their teachers have taught the processes in many different ways.  The fact that I have been exposed to all these different methods allows me to work with students and find a method that works for each child.  I also enjoy that I work with students from all over Beijing, and quite frankly, all over the world!  I have met some amazing kids!  It is so interesting to learn what languages they speak and to discover all the places that they’ve traveled.

Do you assign homework?
Again, it depends on the student.  Most of the time, no.  The students are here because they need help on their homework assigned to them by their school and so I assist them with understanding the problems and helping them to develop their solutions. However, parents and even students sometimes request extra homework from me and so I will assign homework to give them that extra practice and help fix any areas that might be causing them trouble.

How do you select the materials you use with your students?
For most of my students, I have a copy of the textbook that they use in school.  This gives me a great jumping off point as to the types and styles of questions they will encounter.  Also, I work with a great staff that is continually collecting materials for all levels of math.  From here, we are able to work together to borrow and use each others materials that we know works well with the students. In the end the student’s needs dictate which materials I employ in my lessons. I will match the materials to the student so that we can make progress in the most efficient way possible.

What advice would you give to parents looking for math tutors in Beijing?
My first piece of advice would be to make sure that the center has highly qualified, experienced, and certified teachers.  Mathematics has such a wide range of content and levels that it is important that your child’s tutor be able to teach at any level.  I mentioned before that there are many, many different ways to solve each problem and it is very important that your child’s tutor knows more than one way to solve these problems.  I think experience is so important because every day of teaching, whether in a tutoring session or in a classroom, is enlightening for that teacher.  Over the years I have experienced so many different learning styles and students and I’ve had practice figuring out which method is going to work best with each student to help them achieve their goals. 

How is learning Math with a tutor different to learning Math at school?
Tutoring is all about the one on one experience.  As a student in a regular classroom, they can easily get lost in the mix of their classmates and their teacher may not be able to tell that they are having difficulty with the material.  This doesn’t happen during a tutoring session.  That tutoring time is all about the success of the individual student sitting in front of the tutor. As a professional tutor my job is to create a safe, positive learning environment, entirely crafted for the benefit of the individual student that allows me to address their unique concerns and difficulties.

Photo courtesy of The Learning Center

Jamie Loewer is a Mathematics and Science Coordinator at The Learning Center. She has been in Beijing since June 2012. beijingkids met up with Loewer to talk about Math tutoring.

What kind of atmosphere do you try to foster in your classes?
I try very hard to be an open ear and approachable for my students. I want them to feel comfortable and confident in my abilities when they are asking any questions that they have about their schoolwork.  I want them to feel comfortable to ask those questions that they might feel reluctant to ask during school and I want them to always let me know when they are not sure of something. I’m here to help!

What are your qualifications?
First, I have my master’s degree in Applied Mathematics and Secondary Education.  I am a qualified and certified teacher in the state of Texas covering all academic content for early elementary up through grade eight. I am also highly qualified in the United States to teach secondary school mathematics. 

What experience do you have?
Before moving to China, I taught for the Department of Defense for one year at Fort Sam Houston.  After that, I taught secondary mathematics and science for three years in San Antonio, Texas. I have been teaching ever since I arrived in China.

What age kids to you teach?
As mentioned above, I am qualified to teach all grade levels and I currently work with students ranging from grade 5 all the way up to grade 12.

Where can tutoring sessions take place?
All of the tutoring sessions take place here at The Learning Center.

How many students do you tutor at a time?
Typically students are tutored on an individual basis with the entire hour dedicated to them achieving their learning goals. However, on occasion I have also taught tutoring sessions with two students who happen to be at the same grade level and/or studying the same content.  Also, The Learning Center offers group workshops on weekends and during our summer camps that accommodate up to eight students.

How do you prepare for class?
Each student is different.  I always have worksheets and activities available as backup, but typically students bring in their homework and classwork, and that always comes first.  It is important to make sure, as a teacher, that I know my mathematics content inside and out.  Students come into tutoring expecting someone to be not only able to explain to them how to come up with a correct answer, but also, how and why a certain theorem, formula or method of solution works to get that answer.  It is my job to fill in the gaps and help develop the students’ understanding of the content that they may have missed during their regular classes in school.  I also have access to past papers for a variety of examinations which allows me to thoroughly prepare students for the levels of testing they are likely to face. In other situations students may come to The Learning Center to prepare for specific standardized tests (like the SAT or SAT subject tests) or entrance examinations for other schools or universities. In those cases I will design a course of work that will be tailored to the student’s situation and the content will be determined depending on the student’s current level and the level they want to reach. These situations allow me to work at a pace that is suitable for the student and to deliver the material in a way that suits the individual’s learning style.

What is your teaching style?
Once again, it’s different with each student I work with.  Generally, I try to make tutoring a fun place to be.  If the student is already struggling with the content, I want them to feel more confident when they leave each time.  If the student is already quite strong in the subject area, I want to challenge them, keep them ahead of the class and develop their skills even further. I feel like it is very important to create a strong rapport with each student so they look forward to coming to their sessions.  The more comfortable they are in a session, the more likely they will be to ask those questions and raise questions about any problematic areas.

Photos courtesy of The Learning Center

Justin Jiang is a 15 year old Chinese student from Fengtai who attends Harrow International School Beijing. You can find a related interview with Justin’s tutor, Zak Elmasri here.

Do you like English?
It’s funny, I used to hate English and I was very nervous before my first class with Zak because I had never met a foreigner before. When we do classes we work hard but we still joke a lot in class. Chinese teachers are not like that so I have really started to like my English classes. I really love speaking English now. I especially enjoyed the summer camp in England where I made friends with so many people from different countries; I couldn’t have done that before.

Do you find English difficult or easy?
At my new school all the classes are in English so I have to work very hard because a lot of the students are native speakers or have better English than mine, but I know if I work hard and keep doing extra English classes I will be okay because I have already improved so much in such a short time.

Do you think tutoring is helping you at school?  How does it help?
It helps me a lot, I often write down words I don’t understand at school and when I do classes Zak helps me to understand the new words. He also looks at my homework and explains things if I don’t understand anything. I have to study all my classes in English and there is a bit of pressure but after studying with Zak I feel like I can keep up, he gives me a lot of confidence.

Do you have enough energy for English tutoring as well as school work?  Are you ever tired?
I live in Fengtai so it is very far away from my school and my teachers house, but I usually do extra classes on the weekend and after class I stay in the city to have some fun like watch a movie or go to a museum, Zak gives me ideas for things to do after my classes as well.

What else do you do in your free time?
I like swimming and making models, my new school has a really big swimming pool and sometimes I stay there after school with my friends.

Do you like your new school?
I love my new school, it is so different from Chinese school and I have made lots of friends from different countries, I know my English will improve a lot here.

What do you like about learning English with Zak?  What do you dislike?
Zak makes me do a lot of work in classes, but he always makes sure I can keep up, he also makes a lot of jokes in class so its always fun studying with him.
 

We also spoke to Justin’s parents, (who did not wish to be identified in the post).

How did you find Zak?
I travel abroad a lot for work, and I have an English teacher who helps me practice language for when I travel. I asked her about my son’s education and she recommended  a company called TSL. I contacted them and we discussed the different options for Justin, they set us a program including a trip to a UK summer school and Justin also did private classes with Zak for about 3-4 weeks.

What references did you ask Zak to provide?  What questions did you ask him?
I trusted the company and didn’t ask to see any references but they told me it was policy to send a copy of teachers qualifications out to all new students and their parents. Before Justin started lessons I received an email of Zak’s profile.

Why did you want to engage an English tutor?
Justin had never had a native English speaker as a tutor before, we didn’t trust any of the big schools here and I knew from my classes that 1 to 1 lessons were really effective.

What were you goals for the tutoring?  Have those goals been met?
I wanted Justin to attend an international school in Beijing but when we inquired all the schools told us his English was not good enough, we needed a way to help improve quickly so that he could start this year. We were a little nervous the day of the interview, but when Justin passed the entrance test for Harrow International we were so happy.

What advice can you give to Beijing parents who are looking for English tutors?
I can’t say I’m an expert, I think we were quite lucky in finding a really good tutor first time through a recommendation, maybe talk to people and ask their opinions. Don’t just look on the internet, it’s full of adverts for different teachers but I wouldn’t trust them.

Have you had any negative experiences with English tutors in Beijing?  Could you tell us a little bit about them?
No we were lucky, this is the first foreign teacher Justin has had and he has helped Justin so much.

If you’re happy with Zak’s tutoring, could you say why that is so?
Justin is a much more optimistic boy now, the first week studying with Zak he would come home and ask me English questions and sit there going over his notes, I’ve never seen him so eager to learn, he was like a different person. Nowadays we accept it as normal, he’s always asking his sister questions and making notes while watching English DVD’s we never would have imagined his attitude to studying would change so much.

Teach Me More is a series of blog posts outlining various aspects of tutoring, with particular emphasis on the services available in Beijing. The series is intended as an aid to parents in weighing up pros and cons, and steering a steady course through the various options available. Future posts will cover topics such as SAT and GMAT prep, look at tutoring for specific subjects, and ask broader questions about the tutoring industry in general.
You can find the interview with Justin’s tutor, Zak Elmasri here.

Zak Elmasri is a 34 year old private English tutor from the UK who has been working in the English teaching industry since he first came to China at the beginning of 2007. beijingkids met up with Zak to talk about English tutoring.

How do your students find you?
I have been in Beijing for nearly seven years, so I get a lot of recommendations from old students and friends who refer me to people they know. I also get a lot of my work from an agency called TSL Britain. They make the effort to understand teachers and their skills, so they know the students they send me will learn well under my instruction.

What are your qualifications and experience?
I have an advanced TEFL qualification I did in England before I became a teacher; I am also a qualified IELTS examiner and have a Business studies degree, which allows me to teach Business English and Corporate programs. I have taught for over ten years in three different continents and nearly ten different countries; more than six of those years have been in China alone.

What age kids do you teach?
In the past I used to do more older, advanced learners, but as the eldest of six kids I have always been very good with managing children. In recent years, I have started to focus a lot more on younger learners. I think in China (even more so than in other countries), it is important to start teaching the kids English the proper way at a young age to make sure they avoid adopting a rote learning approach to language as used in the state school system. The emphasis on memorization of words and phrases as well as the teacher-centered approach really kill many young peoples’ passion for learning English.

Where can tutoring sessions take place?
I do lessons from home mostly. I have a room in my house that is a dedicated teaching room and I have spent a lot of time and effort in kitting it out with all the right materials and resources. Sometimes I’m willing to go to students’ homes if they don’t live too far, but I have more resources at home and it’s better for young children not to learn in a place they feel too comfortable with as they can get lazy and lose focus.

How many students do you tutor at a time?
It varies. Parents here often like to give their kids extra classes during the holidays or in the lead up to exams, so I often see a peak at those times. Some students come more regularly and these are the ones who make the biggest improvements. At the moment, I have about five regular students a week, but at peak times I can have as many as ten.

How do you prepare for class?
I design most of my class materials myself and try to avoid using coursebooks. That way, I can directly address the needs of each individual. For my longer-term regular students, I have a planned curriculum that we work through. 

What is your teaching style?
Again, it depends on the student. Age is obviously an important factor, but you also have to take into account the student’s individual character and interests. With younger learners, you really have to find what works with them and try to teach them through their interests.

One child who came to me earlier this year had a lot of behavioral issues due to a lack of parental support at home. In general, he was very aloof and disinterested when it came to learning. At the beginning, I taught him in a very relaxed way, essentially gaining his trust and friendship.

After that, I helped him develop new interests by doing classes and activities outside. After a trip to the aquarium, he became fascinated by animals and the sea. From that, we moved forward; I am now able to push him a lot more. I’m planning to take him diving with sharks at Blue Zoo Beijing next month for a birthday surprise. Rewards are a brilliant way to motivate young learners, and I use them a lot with my young students.

Do you assign homework?
Yes, I think this is particularly important for younger learners as they tend to switch off once they shut their books and get home. By making them do homework, you ensure that when they are not in the classroom they still go over class materials. This helps reinforce language and makes them develop healthy study habits.

How do you select materials to use with your students?
I’ve got a lot of materials that I bought from England, such as flashcards and learning games that I use with my young learners. I also make nearly all of my own worksheets and I have a backlog of these on my computer which I can reuse and adapt for different level learners. Different people learn in different ways, and different learners prefer learning with different materials. I think any teacher that has one teaching style and one set of teaching materials/resources is a bad teacher.

What do you think of the English tutoring industry in Beijing overall?
There are a lot of bad teachers out here. I think the problem is the industry is not very regulated and in most instances people are buying a product that they don’t really understand. Many parents think if their child spends one hour a day with a foreigner, they will speak fluent English within a year. It’s this sort of thinking that provides half of BLCU’s foreign language students with weekend beer money – which is great if you’re young and looking for an easy income, but it’s not great for the students.

At the other end, people who turn to big institutions in the hope that they will provide a more professional service are also being sold short. Schools like New Oriental and Wall Street spend 90 percent of their money on marketing and sales; the product’s quality is of secondary concern. I’m not saying all teachers at these schools are bad, but they are not paid well and the teaching materials provided by the schools are often outdated and overused. Good teachers move on or end up just going through the motions.

What advice would you give to parents looking for English tutors in Beijing?
Do your research. The more you understand about the different services that a school/teacher offers, the more you will understand what you are getting your children into. Make sure you ask potential teachers/schools questions! Even for parents who don’t understand English, they hopefully understand their child and what their child’s needs are. By assessing the different options, they can hopefully decide what is best for their child.

Remember, what works for one person might not necessarily work for another, so it is important that you take a proactive approach when finding a teacher and don’t just send your kids where everyone else does.

Teach Me More is a series of blog posts outlining various aspects of tutoring, with particular emphasis on the services available in Beijing. The series is intended as an aid to parents in weighing up pros and cons, and steering a steady course through the various options available. Future posts will cover topics such as SAT and GMAT prep, look at tutoring for specific subjects, and ask broader questions about the tutoring industry in general.
You can find the first post in the series here.
We’ll hear from Zak’s student Justin Jiang in an upcoming blog post.

Photos courtesy of Zak Elmasri

Parents seek out the services of a tutor for a variety of reasons. Extra tutoring may be prompted by difficulty with a specific subject, competition for school placements, a recommendation by the classroom teacher, or simply an inability for busy parents to schedule sufficient learning reinforcement at home.

In order to deliver the best results, parents should be clear about their goals. Those who wish to encourage engagement with a particular subject may choose a tutor who emphasizes fun and play, whereas exam-focused students will benefit from a similarly results-oriented tutor. A tutor who focuses on helping a student to catch up may be very different from one geared toward academic competition.

• Through a program at the child’s school
• On the recommendation of a parent or teacher
• By contacting a tuition agency
• By responding directly to a private tutor’s advert