Transformation Stories &#8211; A Team Tuition

How Ruby Reaps Rewards With Ellie’s Expert Guidance

Year 10 Student Achieves Straight A’s and a Golden Palm

Year 3 Student Masters Mindset and Becomes Student Leader

Failing Year 10 Brisbane student goes from a D to a B+ in one term!

Two Brisbane Girls Achieve The Impossible In One Term

Year 6 Student Goes From C’s To A’s In Just Five Weeks

Year 11 Student Solidifies Scholarship After Going From C’s To A’s In 6 Months

The post Year 11 Student Goes From C+ To A+ In Just One Term! appeared first on A Team Tuition.

From C Student to A Student… Studying Online

A Team Tuition — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 05:02:52 +0000

Meet Joseph, he's been studying online for one term... and he's made some very, very impressive progress. Working with our Academic Personal Trainer Emily, Joseph has travelled from an average student to top of his year nine class, all via online tutorials. So can a child achieve academic excellence studying online? Absolutely, with the right help!

Emily's strategy for Joseph

Whether in person or online, our tutors are highly trained not just to teach schoolwork, but to diagnose and overcome the challenges to academic achievement. In Joseph's case, it was a study strategy. A child's study strategy can make or break their academic performance. A poor study strategy can be mistaken for laziness, complacency and even ineptitude. For Emily, it took no time at all to uncover where she could help Joseph and put practical steps in place to set him on his path to becoming an A student.

Emily created a study and assignment strategy for Joseph that he could apply across all his subjects. With Emily's help, he improved his performance in English, Maths and Social Science. Taking control of "how" he studied and how he felt about doing assignments gave Joseph a big confidence boost. It cleared a path for him to improve his mediocre grades - and that he did! By the end of the first term, Joseph was so confident in his ability to get top grades... that he just did.

Never underestimate confidence and strategy

Unfortunately, some schools, - and parents - focus on a child's intellect instead of looking at the whole picture. Nothing ruins a child's confidence faster than feeling pressure to "be smart". In fact, intellect is one small factor in academic achievement. The best results are a balance of hard work, determination, attitude, support and a study strategy that removes barriers to success. Once the strategy is in place, your child can feel the confidence to roll up their sleeves and go for that A grade.

Is studying online as effective as face-to-face tutoring?

It's a misconception that so many online tutors face. That without their presence looming in the room, their pupil will lack focus and discipline. In actual fact, studying online with Zoom or Skype means your tutor can see everything your child is doing during lessons. Some tutors report that online tutorials empower children to take ownership of their activity. The only adult in the room isn't actually in the room, and yet the student take control of their workload, they demonstrate independence, initiative and self-reliance. These are all vital study skills, not to mention life skills.

It's not a question of studying online vs studying in person, it comes down to with WHOM your child studies online. An excellent tutor can tell how your child is feeling, can identify any big picture or day to day barriers to learning, and then adjust the lesson plan to suit. Studying online with a highly skilled tutor will always deliver better results and more confidence than face-to-face study with an ordinary tutor.

Is Joseph just the exception to the rule?

Not all kids are like Joseph. Especially in the difficult "year 9" classroom. Joseph is different to other kids his age in one key way - he wanted to improve his grades. He was willing to set a goal and adapt to his new study strategy. That's the hard bit; convincing a teen to embrace the idea that "he can do this". But with over 2000 students transformed from mediocre achievers to high achievers, tutors like Emily have paved the way to creating success stories for ALL kids - no matter how they feel at first - or where they're geographically located. A Team Tuition has face-to-face tutoring options in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Ipswich and Toowoomba but our online classes are available Australia wide.

Read more success stories here

Year 12 Boy Goes From C's to Straight A's In Only 6 Months

How Ruby Reaps Rewards With Ellie's Expert Guidance

Year 10 Student Achieves Straight A's and a Golden Palm

Year 3 Student Masters Mindset and Becomes Student Leader

Failing Year 10 Brisbane student goes from a D to a B+ in one term!

Two Brisbane Girls Achieve The Impossible In One Term

Year 6 Student Goes From C's To A's In Just Five Weeks

Year 11 Student Solidifies Scholarship After Going From C's To A's In 6 Months

Your child deserves to reach their full potential, just like Joseph. Talk to us now about how we can make that happen.

Get Started Now

The post From C Student to A Student… Studying Online appeared first on A Team Tuition.

One Month: From B Minus to A Plus. How to become an A Student Like Ava!

Joey Lim — Sat, 14 Mar 2020 07:57:00 +0000

Meet Ava. Ava is an A+ student - but she wasn't always. Ava's story is of a typical student who wasn't meeting her full academic potential. To become an A-plus student, it's not just about putting in the long hours, it's about identifying areas of potential learning growth. Sometimes, small changes make all the difference - and of course, some hard work helps too! So wondering how to become an A student parent? Spoiler: It's not about us, it's about your child and how they consume and recall information.

Why studying more isn't always the answer to becoming an A plus student

At A Team Tuition, we pride ourselves in transforming students not only academically, but also psychologically, emotionally, and any other ways our students may require in order to reach the pinnacle of their studies. While many students may require Academic Personal Training to catch up on school content and understand assignments, Ava needed help with something different - the methods in which she approaches studying.

Ava set goals and that makes a big difference

Ava had a distinct goal. So many children see study as a necessary and never-ending chore. Their goals are nothing more specific than making it through to school holidays. Ava had a goal in mind. Helping your child to establish attainable and timely goals gives them direction with their studies. “When Ava received a B- on her Semester 1 report, we decided to get her some personalised tutoring and she was determined to raise her grade to an A, and finish the year on a high.” We all love a student who aims high for the sky!

Enter Jess, not your typical tutor

A Team Tuition paired Jess, one of our amazing Academic Personal Trainers, with Ava soon after Ava’s parents reached out to us. Fortunately, Jess and Ava connected very quickly through their common bubbly personalities. When a tutor and student pair well, it makes studying more enjoyable - that's why we go the extra mile to find you the right help for your child. Jess set to work understanding Ava's barriers to learning. Our Academic Personal Trainers take a deep dive into your child's learning language and mindset to clear all barriers to meeting their full academic potential.

Why wasn't Ava an A plus student?

Jess discovered that Ava’s greatest struggle was remembering the content taught through effective means: “It wasn’t so much the theory behind the concepts, however, it was about devising techniques Ava could use in exam/test situations.” As a result, Jess thought it would be perfect to first find out Ava’s learning language – a key element to the effective and efficient learning of an individual. (Be sure to check out our learning language blogs to gain a better understanding on the best way you take in information!)

Retraining Ava to learn in the right language for her specific needs

Jess prepared a test for Ava to work through 3 different problems where she had to implement either an auditory, visual or kin-aesthetic type approach. The outcome of this test suggested that Ava is an auditory learner. Taking the wrong approach to teaching Ava in a classroom would mean she may struggle to understand the curriculum. As one of up to 30 students in a classroom, your child's preferred learning language may be overlooked. This is where a skilled tutor can make such a big difference in transforming your C or B student into an A student.

Teaching maths to an auditory learner is possible

In order to utilise Ava’s newly discovered learning language to the duo’s advantage, Jess and Ava began to work on creating rhymes for learning algebra. Who would’ve thought algebra could be rhymed? Our power Academic Personal Trainer and student here have truly inspired us all with their resourceful creativity! The secret to how to become an A student isn't a secret at all, it's simply teaching your child in the language they best understand. Even if the subject matter is Algebra!

So, is Ava a remarkable student or can any child achieve better results?

Ava wasn't afraid to set goals. She wasn't afraid to put in the work. Ava is a remarkable student; all our kids are remarkable - and our tutors are committed to drawing out their remarkable skills. In tweens and teens, a solid attitude may seem remarkable! But with the right help, most children can uncover their inner geek and achieve better academic results. However, there is no success without a little hardship.

Like a lot of teens and tweens we meet, Ava lacked some motivation. Jess described Ava as a very relaxed person, which prompted her to work on trying to make their sessions more engaging. Our Academic Personal Trainers are trained to help lift student motivation by creating tutoring sessions that the child wants to engage with. It wasn’t long before Jess surprised us all with her ingenuity in overcoming such an obstacle:

“When Ava was trying to memorise her oral, we would read it out in different voices, trying to act out the words. This made her have to think about how placing emphasis on different words can change the meaning of what she is saying,” Jess noted. This not only helps with memorising but also helps develop deeper language skills - and is silly and fun... even if Ava was formerly lacking motivation.

The pinnacle point of transformation for them both occurred when they were revising for Ava’s test – they broke the session up with naughts and crosses when Ava got 10 questions right in a row!!

“It made the atmosphere light-hearted and she seemed to have gained confidence with her ability,” remarked Jess.

What child doesn't need more self-confidence?

When asked about the most significant thing she contributed to Ava’s life, Jess replied: “Personally, it’s hard to pinpoint one significant thing as it is the little things that build up to one big thing. Maybe confidence would be the key thing, building on what she knows and reinforcing it.”

Through Jess’ Academic Personal Training, Ava has become more confident when it comes to approaching problems she does not completely understand. She is also a lot more open to new ideas. Aversion to new experiences is pretty typical in children, but overcoming it can change their whole life outlook.

Wait, this year 8 student started doing her homework without complaint? NEVER!

Both Ava’s parents have seen a positive change in attitude:

“Ava immediately became more confident in both English and Maths, and her general confidence grew very quickly. Jess helped her with an oral presentation and Ava was much more confident with performing the presentation in class.” Not only did Ava’s parents reveal that Ava became more confident and keener to study, she also works diligently at home and is really focusing on her homework and assignments now that tutoring became part of her life.

There is almost no greater feeling than seeing your child transform and grow after getting help from an Academic Personal Trainer. And, of course, Jess has benefited equally as much from her tutoring sessions with Ava:

“Ava is an absolute joy to tutor, I always look forward to our sessions. She has such a bubbly personality that the time flies by. She approaches questions slightly differently than how I would, so she’s taught me a new perspective in some things which is really refreshing. She’s teaching me just as much as I’m helping her.”

So, how do you become an A student like Ava? What's the secret?

At A Team Tuition, there are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, persistence, hard work, and learning from failure. In the case of Jess and Ava, their hard work was paid off when everything came together to successfully transform Ava's results. Of course, this would not have been possible without Jess’ connection to Ava. Coming from a fresh perspective, Jess became more of a mentor than a teacher to Ava. Moreover, having just finished high school, Jess could possibly relate to Ava more than a teacher may. As an Academic Personal Trainer (not just a standard tutor), Jess was also able to spend ample time understanding how Ava learns best, making it easier to come up with strategies to enhance Ava’s learning. The secret is no secret - help your child learn the way that best suits them, with a tutor who understands their needs, and you may just find all barriers to academic achievement melt away!

For us here at A Team Tuition - nothing makes us happier and prouder than both a transformed student and a transformed Academic Personal Trainer!

Year 12 Boy Goes From C's to Straight A's In Only 6 Months

Read more success stories here

How Ruby Reaps Rewards With Ellie's Expert Guidance

Year 10 Student Achieves Straight A's and a Golden Palm

Year 3 Student Masters Mindset and Becomes Student Leader

Failing Year 10 Brisbane student goes from a D to a B+ in one term!

Two Brisbane Girls Achieve The Impossible In One Term

Year 6 Student Goes From C's To A's In Just Five Weeks

Year 11 Student Solidifies Scholarship After Going From C's To A's In 6 Months

Year 12 Boy Goes From C's to Straight A's In Only 6 Months

The post One Month: From B Minus to A Plus. How to become an A Student Like Ava! appeared first on A Team Tuition.

Success Spotlight: Brittany and Ethan

A Team Tuition — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 09:04:15 +0000

Brisbane high school tutor Brittany knows that people underestimate the impact that a boost of confidence can have on a person – especially if that person is a young student who is finding their footing in the world. For A Team Tuition, building a student’s confidence is intrinsic to creating transformation in their lives and academic careers. When hiring our tutors, we focus specifically on their mentoring and motivational abilities for this very reason, rather than merely focusing on their content knowledge. This means that we can guarantee that every student will feel supported, motivated towards their goals, and will experience exciting new learning experiences that are positive and fulfilling. Our tutors in Brisbane, on the Gold Coast, in Ipswich, Toowoomba and Sydney are specially selected and trained to give students a holistic approach to improved learning. That's why we refer to our team as Academic Personal Trainers...not just tutors!

Meet Brisbane High School Tutor Brittany

Brittany McEvoy, one of our incredible tutors, was highly focused on these exact things when it came to tutoring her Year 8 student Ethan Reiser. Ethan was on straight B’s for all of his subjects, but his mother Sharon knew that he could achieve even more. Like so many students before him, Ethan was an incredibly talented young man, who had everything he needed to accomplish wondrous things – except the ability to see that his own potential.

“Ethan couldn’t see what I could see – that he had the ability to understand content that is not only on his learning level, but also way beyond him!” Brittany commented. “So my focus was to help him that he actually did understand what he was doing, and developing a friendship that allowed him to feel comfortable and supported.”

“However, I was also very focused on becoming like a ‘sister’ figure to him, so that he would respect what I had to say – especially when we had to have those honest conversations about his effort and motivation. I think doing that, especially near the start of tutoring, really helped us establish the right expectations, and lit that fire of motivation under him for the rest of the year!”

How Brittany and Ethan Transformed His Academic Performance

The first step towards lighting that fire was shifting Ethan’s learning environment from a typical seat and desk into an atmosphere that was fun and exciting for him. To do this, they sat down in beanbags; from there, Britt focused on making Ethan's learning experience fun.

They used a whiteboard to create visual representations and explanations of Ethan’s work, and had multiple debates about science and its elements. These debates were a great tester of Ethan’s science skills, as it pressed him to go beyond simply recounting information, and towards developing a solid understanding of content and all it entailed.

“As with most Year 8 students, motivation was definitely hard for Ethan to maintain at times – which is totally normal, and had to be accepted for transformation to take place!” Britt remarked. “I accommodated for this, by ensuring that each session was inviting and fun for Ethan, rather than simply sitting down and doing work in a way that was boring to him.”

Doing Ethan’s work in such a way not only allowed him to boost from straight B’s to primarily A grades, but also helped him achieve the Principal’s Academic Award! Most importantly, Ethan was now aware of his true abilities, and that itself unlocked countless opportunities for him.

“I remember Ethan talking about how he couldn’t decide if he wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer, and I reminded him that if he really wanted to, he could be both!” Britt recalled.

“He now knows that school doesn’t define his future, but that he can view school as a sport that he can ‘win’ at if he ‘trains’ hard enough. I hope that in the years to come, he knows that he has the potential to be whoever he wants to be if he puts his mind to it.”

Brittany herself was incredibly proud of Ethan’s efforts, seeing a small bit of herself in her young student.

Tutors Who Connect Make All The Difference

“Ethan had very similar struggles as I did in high school – you know, being the student that did incredibly well in junior school, but didn’t adapt as well as expected going into high school due to the new pressures and difficulties,” said Britt. “It was awesome to help someone like Ethan, because I know I definitely wished to have the same help – and he did so well to take it on board so quickly, in such an effective way.”

“He definitely did an incredible job, with some really great support from his friends, family, and I’m so honoured I got to play a part in that!”

Work with A Team Tuition to transform your student's academic performance

Brittany works as a high school tutor in Brisbane and on The Gold Coast. Our team of tutors work online across Australia and provide in-person tutoring in Brisbane, on the Gold Coast, in Ipswich, Toowoomba and Sydney. By selecting the right mentor for your child, you're giving them every chance to perform at their true potential. Talk to us about matching your child with our team. It could make a lifetime's worth of difference.

Start Now

Read more success stories here

How Ruby Reaps Rewards With Ellie's Expert Guidance

Year 10 Student Achieves Straight A's and a Golden Palm

Year 3 Student Masters Mindset and Becomes Student Leader

Failing Year 10 Brisbane student goes from a D to a B+ in one term!

Two Brisbane Girls Achieve The Impossible In One Term

Year 6 Student Goes From C's To A's In Just Five Weeks

Year 11 Student Solidifies Scholarship After Going From C's To A's In 6 Months

The post Success Spotlight: Brittany and Ethan appeared first on A Team Tuition.

Three Unexpected Changes I Went Through Going from a C Student to an A Student

Kaitlyn Watson — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 01:43:51 +0000

For most of us, A’s are the name of the game. We all want to achieve the best grades possible! Going from a C student to an A student is the ultimate academic goal!

However, with such a focused goal, sometimes we don’t recognise the effects of reaching that goal. I’m not here to say that there are serious consequences for getting A’s. What I’m saying is… there are many unexpected changes that you might go through after achieving that goal, which can impact how well you keep your hard-earned grade!

I went from being a C student to an A student

You might be thinking, ‘who is this person and what do they know about achieving an A in Maths?’. Well, as someone who climbed two letter grades (from C’s to A’s) in Maths, I know a thing or two about how your work ethic and attitude changes once you start achieving well.

What happens when you go next level with grades?

With that in mind, here are a few things I noticed after successfully raising my grades:

1) A’s don’t keep themselves!

2) You get more help!

3) Confidence!

1) A’s don’t keep themselves!

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Congratulations… you have achieved that well-deserved A! However, don’t get comfortable. Because it is true… you will have to put in the same amount of effort (if not more) into every piece of future assessment to stay an A student.

The big trap of C student to A student - is complacency

A lot of students tend to fall into a rut of settling and getting comfortable with a grade. For example, it took me a while to realise that if my goal was an A, settling for a B wasn’t going to get me anywhere.

Even once I got that A, it was so tempting to sit back and relax. Unfortunately, one A doesn’t mean A’s forever! You must maintain the effort and motivation that got you there in the first place.

It can seem so easy to just keep at your current level. If you are happy with that grade, why try to do better next time? Well, if it is one thing all my experience has taught me… is that there is always room for improvement! The best learners are the ones constantly asking and applying feedback, in hopes of improving their ability.

How A Team Tuition drives A students

At A Team Tuition, we love to develop growth mindsets, as we appreciate the power it can have! This is where you believe that with hard work, dedication, and motivation you can always improve any ability! This self-belief allows you to take constructive criticism and utilise it, to improve your work in the future.

This is so important! Because, when you take feedback to improve – even when you already have the A – you’re generating the best possible outcome for yourself!

So… keep up the good work! Getting an A will show you that you are more than capable to achieve it again and all you need to do is keep putting the effort in! Ask questions, take feedback in your stride with a growth mindset, and always know there’s more to learn!

2) You Get More Help

There is a common complaint that the ‘teacher’s pet’ always gets so much more help than the other 25+ kids in the classroom.

However, this is simply not true. Teachers don’t have favourites. Teachers are passionate about educating all their students and providing them the tools they need for success!

Instead, teachers are more likely to give more attention to students who engage, be attentive, and work hard in class. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense!

Teachers have dozens of students to look after, and already have their hands full educating the pioneers of the future. But, while they are amazing people, they are not telepathic. So… if you want extra help, you need to let them know! Just put in the extra time – ask questions in class or go talk to them after class. Because, if you show your enthusiasm, they’re going to see that!

“You have to… let them know you need and want that extra help!”

Also, have you ever noticed that the high achieving students in your class… frequently put up their hands to ask or answer questions in class, go to the teacher’s desk to ask questions, email the teacher frequently, or even go and talk to them during their lunch break?

It might seem like teachers start focusing on those students who already have good grades – but this is because those students constantly demonstrate their enthusiasm and use their teacher’s better than others!

They take full advantage of having a smart intellect at their fingertips five days a week! This enables the high-achieving students to continuously get feedback, advice, and guidance to improve the quality of their work and maintain their grades.

I can tell you right now, from personal experience, if you start to show that you are passionate and want more help, you will get it! Try it out… see what happens

3) Confidence!

Once you start achieving A’s, your confidence will skyrocket! I promise!

This may happen for several reasons…

To begin with, achieving an A informs you that you are more than capable of achieving well in the future! The power of self-belief is empowering, as it allows you to open your mind to endless possibilities!

With this considered, it also gives you the incentive to set higher goals in the future. To become a straight A student perhaps?

All goals should be achievable

I know that, for me, once I started climbing the achievement ranks in Maths, all I wanted was to do better and better until I reached the top. Little victories really matter. Achieving a B grade, where before you had a C. A pass, where before you were failing.

Maybe it took you four whole years – like me – or maybe you managed it in just a short time. Maybe you had help, maybe you didn’t. Regardless, something about achieving that goal just makes it easier to achieve the next one.

So… there you have it… the three things I noticed after successfully raising my grades! Hopefully, this has enlightened you about what to expect from a change in grades. But maybe your experience will be totally different to mine. Either way… good luck!

However, if you do need a hand getting to that A – or keeping it – feel free to contact one of our friendly staff at A Team Tuition

Year 12 Boy Goes From C's to Straight A's In Only 6 Months

Read more success stories here

How Ruby Reaps Rewards With Ellie's Expert Guidance

Year 10 Student Achieves Straight A's and a Golden Palm

Year 3 Student Masters Mindset and Becomes Student Leader

Failing Year 10 Brisbane student goes from a D to a B+ in one term!

Two Brisbane Girls Achieve The Impossible In One Term

Year 6 Student Goes From C's To A's In Just Five Weeks

Year 11 Student Solidifies Scholarship After Going From C's To A's In 6 Months

The post Three Unexpected Changes I Went Through Going from a C Student to an A Student appeared first on A Team Tuition.

YEAR 6 STUDENT GOES FROM C’S TO A’S IN 5 MONTHS

Joey Lim — Thu, 10 Jan 2019 22:22:22 +0000

At A Team, we aim to provide a sense of enrichment to all our students, whether it may be in the form of academic achievements or personal development. To do this, our tutors are dedicated to instilling motivation and confidence in their students through creative means.

For one of our incredible tutors, Rimaz Toto, such a mindset was extremely effective in transforming one of her Year 6 Math students, Chloe, into a shining star.

Some would say Maths is interesting in the sense that it is a subject that can be explored in so many different ways, and to so many different extents. Others might say that it is the subject they find most challenging, or that they just can’t seem to get their head around it!

Before receiving tutoring from A Team Tuition, Chloe was one of the latter.

As a student who was struggling with Maths in school, Chloe’s greatest weaknesses were comprehending complex Maths questions and understanding how to approach those questions.

Consequently, her parents felt tutoring would be of great help to Chloe’s result in Maths after discussing it with her teacher.

As Chloe’s brother, Harrisa, was already being tutored by Rimaz and receiving great results, Chloe’s parents did not hesitate to seek out A Team Tuition again for Chloe’s Academic Personal Training.

Just as we aim to satisfy all our clients, Chloe’s parents were very content with Rimaz as their tutor: “We all bonded with Rimaz immediately; she is very easy to talk to and Chloe feels very comfortable with her”.

Fortunately, Rimaz identified Chloe’s greatest struggles almost instantly!

“I often found that Chloe woul make silly mistakes or not fully understand the question, leaving her confused and stressed. I figured this out during the initial session, where I had printed out some simple straight forward questions and some wordy questions. I found that the straightforward questions Chloe was able to answer confidently, however the wordy questions she was struggling a bit”.

Accordingly, Rimaz brainstormed ideas to tackle Chloe’s weaknesses in Maths.

“In terms of the strategy that I implemented to address Chloe’s struggles, I started practicing straightforward and wordy questions in every session. I would also assign her homework that would allow her to practice the content we had completed during the session. The worksheets that I gave her aligned with similar ones that her teacher gave her, and Chloe was able to build her knowledge through those practice questions and then work on harder wordy questions in the sessions”.

Nonetheless, transforming Chloe did not come easy to Rimaz.

For most tutors, the first few academic personal training sessions are often spent on getting to know their students a little better. This is so that tutors can connect to their students on a personal level, and also to find out their hobbies and habits.

When Rimaz first began tutoring Chloe, she felt a little lost as to where to begin. Though she had previously tutored Chloe’s brother and discovered his study methods, she couldn’t exactly get Chloe’s.

“It took time and after many conversations with Chloe’s mother, we both knew that Chloe knew all the information she needed to know for all her classes, her biggest struggle was practicing those questions and putting the knowledge into context.”

On top of that, Rimaz experienced slight difficulties in stimulating her sessions with Chloe.

“The toughest thing with tutoring in general is finding a balance between challenging the student but also making the session fun and enjoyable. I found that Chloe was a very hyperactive kid and would often get distracted and hungry very easily.”.

Rimaz revealed that this hindered Chloe’s ability to concentrate and focus 100% of the time during their tutoring session. As a result, Rimaz worked hard to find a balance in her lessons with Chloe, and soon realised that Chloe simply needed some distraction time throughout the session in order to regain her concentration.

“We would often take the occasional breaks and I would ask her questions that were not school related. For example, “what did you buy when you went shopping this weekend?”, “what’s your favourite thing about dancing?”. These questions distracted her from her study and she was able to focus for another 20 minutes before we would have to take another break”.

Accordingly, Chloe noted that “the best part about my tutor is that she is always cheerful,” and “(I) get advice and it is not boring”. Chloe also felt that she began to develop the desire to get better grades, as opposed to before she started tutoring.

Slowly but surely, Chloe’s transformation began to take place. When asked, her parents also confirmed that Chloe’s confidence improved and so did her results.

Undoubtedly, this was largely attributable to Rimaz’s patience, observance and effective academic personal training.

“(Chloe’s) turning point occurredwhen I realized that the practice questions and homework that I was assigning her was helping her. I tailored the tutoring sessions to meet Chloe’s academic needs and that’s what every tutor should do because once you do that, everything clicks into place and the lightbulb shines”.

As the fruits of her labour, Chloe’s impressive transformation has definitely boosted her confidence and allowed her to become more sociable as well as outgoing in numerous aspects of her life. Rimaz also quickly recognised that Chloe became a lot happier and less stressed out about school upon her steady transformation over 5 months.

Upon appreciating such results, we at A Team Tuition are extremely pleased that Rimaz was the perfect tutor for Chloe, as Rimaz herself revealed:

“I think the reason why I was able to achieve this transformation and not her parents or teachers is because A team equipped me with the skills and strategies that they need in order to assist Chloe. A team helped me identify my strengths and I was able to implement those strengths into the tutoring sessions and use my strengths to help the student improve”.

“Also, I feel teachers are unable to complete this transformation because of the other responsibilities they have. Teachers have to look after a number of students, whereas with tutoring, the tutor’s attention is on the student and their area of difficulty”.

Remarkably, Chloe was not the only one who was transformed through this time.

“Chloe has allowed me to become more patient and appreciative of everything that I have,” Rimaz commented.

“Chloe vibrates love and happiness and that atmosphere has rubbed off on me and allowed me to become just a happy person”.

Even more, Chloe’s parents were also greatly benefited by the tutoring sessions:

“Homework is a much calmer and happier experience for all of us!!!”

We are extremely proud of Chloe’s transformation from a C to an A in Maths and can’t wait to see what this dynamic duo achieves in the near future!

Not only did Rimaz and Chloe’s story further boost our immense confidence in both our tutors and our clients; it has also certainly imparted to all of us that - anything is possible with the right support, resources, and can-do mindset!

Year 12 Boy Goes From C's to Straight A's In Only 6 Months

Read more success stories here

How Ruby Reaps Rewards With Ellie's Expert Guidance

Year 10 Student Achieves Straight A's and a Golden Palm

Year 3 Student Masters Mindset and Becomes Student Leader

Failing Year 10 Brisbane student goes from a D to a B+ in one term!

Two Brisbane Girls Achieve The Impossible In One Term

Year 6 Student Goes From C's To A's In Just Five Weeks

Year 11 Student Solidifies Scholarship After Going From C's To A's In 6 Months

The post YEAR 6 STUDENT GOES FROM C’S TO A’S IN 5 MONTHS appeared first on A Team Tuition.

YEAR 11 STUDENT SOLIDIFIES SCHOLARSHIP AFTER GOING FROM C’s TO A’s IN 6 MONTHS

Makaela Fehlhaber — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 04:12:48 +0000

There exists this misapprehension that tutoring should only be sought if a student is failing. Parents, teachers and even students often overlook the obvious signs of a struggling student if they’re passing their courses because, “if they’re passing, they must be fine!” This assumption couldn’t be farther from the truth.

For some students, a pass is equivalent to their own personal failing. Students who were once ‘A’ grade students would be more than dissatisfied with receiving a ‘C’. These students have personal goals that exceed the ordinary and hope to achieve what others have not. Grade reductions only diminish their desire to go above and beyond the regular student.

We’ve encountered students falling from ‘A’ grades to ‘C’ grades more times than we can count. The struggle that follows is rebuilding the positive, growth mindset of these students to believe, once more, than they are capable of being ‘A’ grade students.

For Year 11 student Matthew Bungate, this fall resulted in him temporarily losing his academic scholarship before regaining it with the assistance of Academic Personal Trainer Keelan Hood. At the start of 2018, Matthew’s grades began to drop significantly which resulted in the withdrawal of his academic scholarship.

For Matt, he assumed that with ease, he’d be able to return to his former marks. However, in the weeks that followed he soon realised that his motivation and mindset were the pitfalls to regaining his previous admirable academic achievements. Concerned, Matt’s family sought the help of a tutor. At first, Matt was apprehensive and didn’t believe that a tutor was really necessary. However, this attitude soon readjusted itself after a few sessions with Keelan.

Matt started working with Keelan in January 2018 and since then, he’s exceeded the triumphs that he’d gained prior to receiving his academic scholarship. From the first tutoring session, the pair started with English being Matt’s lowest subject at the time and worked through the subject’s core elements: comprehension, proofreading and writing. Keelan was aware from the very beginning that academically, Matt was capable of achieving top scores in all of his classes but there was something outside of academia that needed to be the focus.

“With Matt, his greatest struggle was his confidence. Being awarded the scholarship only to lose it was detrimental to his self-esteem.”

Keelan recalls that most of the time spent in their sessions was dedicated to positive reinforcement and motivation.

“Constantly giving him positive encouragement made him aware that he could really retrieve his scholarship back. This made him really step up his game and overall improve his grades and attitude towards schooling.”

With the right mindset now in play, Matt’s transformation was underway starting with identifying what were Matt’s strengths and weaknesses.

“Matt’s mistakes included not studying correctly, not utilising his time management skills to the best of his ability and not being able to break assignments down where he needed to,” recalls Keelan.

Receiving ‘A’ grades in early high school years is a much simpler task than achieving ‘A’ grades in senior school and Matt had simply not adjusted to the transition and had not made this realisation. As a result, his mental space was not in the best form to be able to make the links between what had changed, and what had not.

With Matt being a primarily visual learner, Keelan was able to use the modules in the Creating A Students Program to work through barriers that most would not have turn their minds to: holding the right mindset, assignment and exam strategy, effective study practices and time management skills.

“The CAS program gave Matt an exceptional understanding of different ways to study and complete assignments and how to best manage all his time during the week.”

This, combined with using other strategies centred around visual imagery, Matt slowly began to respond better to studying again.

After Matt’s English skills began to re-emerge, the pair integrated other subjects into tutoring and began tackling assignments for Mathematics B & C, Physics and Chemistry. Not long after, Matt’s hard work and dedicated paid off and he found himself within the top 1% of students for each of these subjects! Matt’s perspective towards tutoring seemed to flip in an instant.

“School has gone from being a chore that I had to spend 30 hours a week at to 30 hours where I am putting my head down to achieve what I couldn’t before. Even on days where I have less motivation, I still put in work, seeing that it has paid off before, wanting to see it happen again,” smiles Matt.

“I learnt that I could achieve so much more with a better mindset and allowing people to help me than if I tried to do everything by myself. From regaining my scholarship and receiving better marks in class, it was great to see the hard work pay off.”

Reflecting on the tutoring experience, Keelan has found that Matt’s situation differed from other students that he’s crossed in the sense that content knowledge was never at the forefront on their to-learn list.

“The toughest past about tutoring Matt was not helping with his assignments, reading or preparing him for exams, but actually making him more confident to go through Year 11 with a positive outlook.

After six months of tutoring, Matt has been re-awarded his academic scholarship and is soaring above his other classmates. With his confidence and grades restored, he endeavours to graduate Year 12 and gain entry at university to study a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering.

Matt’s story is a testament to perseverance and that the greatest climb that one has to experience is the climb after the fall. That doesn’t mean that you should be deterred though, because success is ensuring that you get up and dust yourself off more times than you fall. Knowing his resilient nature, we have full confidence that Matt is sure to succeed in any activity or course that he undertakes.

Year 12 Boy Goes From C's to Straight A's In Only 6 Months

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The post YEAR 11 STUDENT SOLIDIFIES SCHOLARSHIP AFTER GOING FROM C’s TO A’s IN 6 MONTHS appeared first on A Team Tuition.

Meet the Winners of A Team Tuition’s $5,000 Tutoring Scholarship Program!

Makaela Fehlhaber — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 01:16:27 +0000

One of the first questions that every child is asked when they walk through the school doors for their very first day of prep is “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Answers range between astronauts, zoologists, Olympians, doctors, lawyers, builders and actors/actresses. However, these answers tend to change as students progress through schooling. Students who once dreamed of being doctors are disheartened by their average grades and opt for something else instead that’s a lot easier to obtain. The most heart-wrenching part to this process is seeing this follow through, especially when all that is holding these students back is the attainment of a few ‘A’ grades. At A Team Tuition, we want students’ first answer to “what do you want to be when you grow up” to be what they actually achieve.

Students who pass through our doors are all in the same predicament. We have students desiring to be veterinarians but are just scraping 'C' grades. This is just one of the many reasons why we started our Project Limitless Scholarship – a program dedicated to transforming struggling students into ‘A’ grade students so that they can fulfil their dreams of becoming aspiring doctors, lawyers, teachers, vets and engineers alike.

In April of last year, we awarded the first Project Limitless Scholarship, by partnering with local Gold Coast school Miami State High School, to Skylah Rhambold and Waide Carson who both soared from C-‘s to B’s and A’s by the end of the school year. Early this year, we embarked on the second instalment of the scholarship series and awarded an even bigger prize equalling $10,000 to Brisbane sisters Esther Abiya and Sarive Zena. Within one term, the impossible had occurred once more with Esther receiving A’s in 3 of her subjects and Sarive jumping from C’s to B’s! Now, A Team Tuition is elated to announce the winners of the third instalment of Project Limitless…Jake Budiasa-Moon and Talia Brown!

On Thursday the 26^th July, A Team Tuition had the pleasure of gifting these two beyond deserving students with a life-changing prize; another $5,000 transformation scholarship! After the announcement of his name, Year 9 student Jake couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. Unfortunately, our second winner Talia was unable to make the announcement due to a Year 10 science excursion, but her Mum was just as excited to accept the prize on her behalf and perhaps showed even more excitement than Talia herself!

How were the students selected?

Handpicking the winners for this scholarship extended over 2 months and involved a rigorous selection process. Just like the year before, our CEO and Founder Hayden McEvoy presented the idea to the eager-eared Miami SHS student cohort. The response once again, was overwhelming with a total of 50 applications submitted! Students were asked to respond to two simple questions within their applications:

What would this scholarship mean to you?
What do you believe creates success at school?

Senior representatives from A Team Tuition were then afforded the difficult task of creating the Top 10 short-list from 50 applications. In collaboration with Deputy Principal Jason Cross and Public Relations and Event Manager Catherine Crow from Miami SHS, the Top 10 applicants were ranked according to a set criterion (dubbed by A Team Tuition as the factors that make up an ‘A’ student) which assess a student’s:

Open-mindedness,
Resilience,
Grit,
Motivation and Drive, and
Eagerness to Learn.

In particular, we placed added emphasis on the attributes of ‘resilience’ and ‘grit’ as these traits encapsulate students who strive when faced with a challenge and who would not give up easily when overcoming set-backs. These characteristics were what ultimately determined the selection of the Top 6 students.

The final stage in the application process required students to sit down with a panel of interviewers comprised of Miami SHS and A Team Tuition staff. However, A Team Tuition did not set out to simply interview the students. We wanted to interview students’ parents/guardians and teachers who could provide an all-round view on each individual applicant. This allowed us to corroborate our findings through the application process and gain a more personal insight into each students’ motivation for applying and to ensure that we were selecting the students who truly saw the potential of the scholarship.

Talia Brown

Subject: Maths

Starting Grade: D

In the interview, Hayden recalls how captivated he was by Talia’s bubbly and positive aura as well as her desire to learn. Her desire to do well in school was evident through her consistent participation extra-curricular activities such as in Tournament of Minds since Year 5 as well as in the school band playing the Trombone. After hearing how involved Talia is both in and outside of school and witnessing firsthand her contagious drive, we were surprised to find out that she was failing Maths. With high hopes of one day becoming a Neurosurgeon, it was evident that Talia already had the growth mindset to become an ‘A’ student but her grades just weren’t up to par.

Karen Brown, Talia’s mother recalls that she’s dreamed of becoming a Neurosurgeon since she was three and a half.

“We took her to a family doctor and there was a model of a brain and she asked what it was and if there was a doctor trained specifically to treat brains. Then when she was in Prep, her teacher asked her ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’

She drew a picture of a doctor treating a patient. She’s always wanted to do that, but she just knows that her current grades won’t get her there.”

Karen is also aware that Talia has struggled a bit in Chemistry and Physics, both of which are prerequisites to be able to study in this field and is hoping the scholarship will have an accumulative effect on most of her grades. Her teachers are confident that by applying the right strategies, she most certainly could boost her marks in all of these subjects.

Karen is hoping that Talia will become more confident and realise that she does have the potential to reach an ‘A’ grade in these subjects prior to her starting her senior schooling.

“She has it in her, but she struggles to find it. Not only that but I want her to have pride in her work and to feel chuffed because she’s got something right finally. I just want to see her happy and feeling smart.”

When asked what it means to her as a parent seeing her child receive this scholarship, Karen couldn’t stop smiling.

“It’s just unbelievable, things like this don’t happen. For someone who has tried so hard to get her grades up but just can’t seem to make sense of it, this is huge.”

Jake Budiasa-Moon

Subject: English

Starting Grade: C

Hayden was immediately impressed by how well-spoken Jake was in his interview and described him as a “high motivated, altruistic individual with an old soul” with quite the strong handshake. After the panel heard about Jake’s sporting successes, it was evident that Jake exhibited the level of commitment that would help propel him towards higher grades when combined with learning the right study strategies.

Jake’s motivation for applying for the scholarship was based on his desire to improve his grades in order to continue his studies at university. Jake has been inspired by his very own humanities teacher, Mr Vine, to study teaching in the hopes of one day becoming either a Languages or Physical Education teacher. As an avid lover of all sports, including football, tennis, basketball and even golf, it comes as no surprise that Jake would love to pursue a career in doing what he does best!

However, while Jake knows that his sporting ability is up for the challenge, he’s concerned that his grades will be his downfall and is hoping the scholarship will not only boost his grades, but provide him with confidence during exams and tests while learning how to study at home without getting side-tracked. Noting that Jake is primarily a kinaesthetic learner, it’s simply a matter of incorporating study strategies that will work best for him!

For Jake, receiving the transformation scholarship means that he can be guided towards reaching his potential.

“I do well in class but when it comes to a test I realise ‘OMG’ I don’t know what I’m doing! I want to be able to push past this and get an A.”

Tutors

Narrowing down 110 tutors within the company to just 2 was no easy task for the management team here at A Team Tuition with many tutors being suitable candidates to work alongside the scholarship winners. Ultimately, selecting the two Academic Personal Trainers to assist our latest scholarship winners was based on personality compatibility, subject expertise, tutoring experience as well as career aspirations. Without further ado, the tutors are…

Talia’s Tutor: Miss Jessica Chew

Jess is completing a dual degree of a Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Commerce at Bond University. When she isn’t out on the water rowing, she’s involved in many non-profit organisations to raise awareness for issues extending both within the local community and abroad. Jess is no stranger to working with younger students – she even has a younger sister of her own!

As a maths enthusiast, Jess is eager to work with Talia in improving and excelling in her first year of Senior Maths. They will be focusing predominantly on algebra this term, and taking the A’s from the equations and back into the report card!

Since Talia is in Year 10 this year, she will be part of the first cohort in Queensland to complete senior schooling through the ATAR system. So, along with helping with her Maths homework, Jess will be introducing Talia to how ATAR works.

Jake’s Tutor: Miss Makaela Fehlhaber

Makaela, or ‘Mak’, is also studying at Bond University and is completing a dual degree of a Bachelor of Laws (Honours)/Bachelor of International Relations.

Her passion for education stems far beyond tutoring at A Team Tuition and she has been involved in many non-profit organisations including participating in One Girl’s Do it in a Dress campaign to raise money for scholarship bursaries for students in Sierra Leonne and Uganda as part of her role when on the United Nation’s Student Association.

Mak is no stranger to A Team Tuition’s Project Limitless Series and has been helping Brisbane scholarship winner Sarive Zena in her humanities subjects and on her journey towards achieving those ‘A’ grades in her senior year.

As an English Enthusiast, Mak is excited to kick-start Jake’s transformation with a Shakespearean Unit focusing on Romeo and Juliet where he will be revisioning this timeless tale into his own narrative.

The Transformation Plan

Project Limitless is scheduled to begin the week of the 6^th August in week 4 of the school term. Students, parents and tutors have all been introduced and now it’s time to hit the ground running. Last week, both Talia and Jake attended the orientation luncheon where they were briefed on the plan going forward. Both students received an overview of what to expect over the next few months as well as listening to a presentation by Hayden about the Creating A Students Program and what their tutors will be covering in their subsequent sessions. Each student will work with their assigned tutor for an hour and a half each week for the rest of the school year.

Project Limitless was designed to prove that with the right drive, attitude, mindset and persistence, any student can become an ‘A’ student and we have full confidence that this pair will be no different than the students before them! Most importantly, we want to help both Jake and Talia fulfil their primary school dreams that they’ve held since the day they were asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?”

Keep up to date on our social media platforms for updates on Jake and Talia’s progress and their journey to becoming ‘A’ level students in no time! Watch this space.

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Year 6 Student Goes From C’s To A’s In Just Five Weeks

Makaela Fehlhaber — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 00:47:31 +0000

You’d be surprised to hear that the learning of facts is not how education works. Rather, the composition of learning is the training of one’s mind to think, but to think about how their mind works. Never a truer word has been spoken by none other than one of the most influential physicists, Albert Einstein. Einstein believed in the principle of differentiated learning and is most famously quoted for drawing an analogy between judging a fish to climb a tree and expecting others to learn the same way.

What this simply means is that all our brains are wired differently. When learning something new, some of us are more inclined to draw diagrams than copy content verbatim. Others are more inclined to craft catchy chants to recall information than colour code their study notes prior to an exam. Studies over the years have found a potential 30 learning types all of which can be categorised into three main classes: visual, auditory or kinaesthetic. The point is, everyone learns differently and using our intuition to determine how we learn best, makes a world of difference.

For Year 6 student Tyge Maloney, identifying his learning languages allowed him to soar from C’s to A’s in English in only five weeks! For years, Tyge sat on constant C grades in English and it wasn’t until he started tutoring with Academic Personal Trainer Rimaz Ibrahim Toto did the puzzle pieces start to fall in place.

Rimaz recalls that from the outset, Tyge was such a happy and vibrant student with an eagerness to learn. His main struggles were his lack of correct grammar and punctuation skills. As an integral part of succeeding in English, Rimaz set out to address these weaknesses first.

“The strategies that I used to address Tyge’s struggles and problems were centred around teaching him the basics from the beginning and allowing him to choose how he wanted to study.”

Rimaz observed that Tyge appeared to be a primarily kinaesthetic learner and thus, the most productive way of teaching was to incorporate movement and physical activity into sessions. One of the ways in which this was achieved, was creating games designed to involve movement. To teach Tyge the punctuation points, Rimaz printed off pictures of each punctuation mark as well as a list of words. Tyge’s task was to unscramble the words to form a coherent sentence which was correctly punctuated! With each question successfully answered, Rimaz would present a more complex challenge.

This wasn’t the only method that Rimaz stuck to and as she continued to work with Tyge, she realised that Tyge also responded well to activities that required a strong visual element. The fact that Tyge appeared to be both a visual and kinaesthetic learner is not uncommon. Certain brains don’t function effectively in isolation and they instead require stimulation of more than one learning language. A teacher explaining a concept using a whiteboard is not simply targeting visual processing. It also requires us to listen to what the teacher is saying when explaining the diagram that she’s drawn to make the most of the visual in front of us. Thus, Rimaz incorporated a visual component into the one-hour weekly tutoring sessions and used online educational platforms such as IXL as her aid.

The pinnacle point of Tyge’s transformation occurred almost immediately and Rimaz pinpoints this down to the fact that he developed a mindset where he became confident in his ability to complete assigned work.

“Tyge flourished and became more confident in every aspect of his life. He developed a positive and ‘can do’ attitude that benefitted him in many ways,” recalls Rimaz.

When it came time for the pair to start work on Tyge’s first assessment piece since starting tutoring, a persuasive speech, techniques targeted towards kinaesthetic and visual learners were what really caused Tyge to transform into an ‘A’ standard student. To teach speech techniques, Rimaz presented the structure in a visual format and had Tyge practice his speech using appropriate eye contact, gestures and tone.

Throughout the entire process, Tyge’s mother Joanne Maloney, had nothing but praise for Rimaz and her techniques.

“Rimaz is a wonderful listener, thoroughly organised, firm but fair. She makes learning fun which makes Tyge learn so much more!”

Tyge’s achievements didn’t simple stop after his ‘A’ in English! Just a few weeks later, Tyge received an ‘A’ on his Japanese test followed by being named as the recipient of the Principal’s Award for excellence based on his grades from his Semester 1 report.

When reflecting on her work with Tyge, Rimaz was full of admiration for the eleven year old.

“Tyge has honestly changed my life, he has allowed me to appreciate my love for helping people. He has helped me to grow and understand that wanting to help someone doesn’t have to involve a significant change but can be as simple as helping someone be more confident. Type has allowed me to grow as an individual and become a more compassionate person and for that I will always remain grateful.”

Tyge’s Mum couldn’t be prouder of her son, his achievements and the leaps and bounds he’s made and only wished that she’d started tutoring 12 months ago.

“As a parent, I’m happy because Tyge is happy and we haven’t had that feeling for a long time.”

Now that Tyge’s English marks are up, Rimaz is redirecting their focus in sessions towards enhancing his maths skills. Using the same successful strategies that she used to improve Tyge’s English skills, Rimaz is once again incorporating activities which require movement into sessions. So far, this has included having Tyge write his timetables on a whiteboard and in different colours. Seeing how quickly Rimaz helped transform Tyge’s English marks, we have no doubt that Tyge will be a little mathematician in no time!

Year 12 Boy Goes From C's to Straight A's In Only 6 Months

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