How can an A level maths tutor help with a lack of motivation?

Many people will state that they may have a dislike for maths, or they will quickly say that they ‘can’t do maths’ or ‘I was never any good at maths’, but yet, we use maths every day, each and every one or us, yet we have no problem with this maths, money, time, timetables, working out quantities for recipes etc etc.

I also would like to confess that when at school I did not like maths, and I also fitted perfectly into the above categories of saying, ‘I can’t’ ‘I’m not good at it’ whilst observed the adults around me eye rolling which just merely confirmed that all the above was correct. However, years go by and wisdom increases, and, actually, I am good at maths and it wasn’t until everyone (inspiring adults around me??) decided that they could do no more and that I needed external help. (Another nail in my confidence, as we approached the last chance to help me with my maths).

Then enter my Maths tutor…. The tutor who would later inspire me to create HB Tutoring, the tutor who never appeared to have the ‘rolling eyes’, the tutor who listened, watched, adapted his lessons to me, made me laugh and sat there patiently while I asked him to repeat the same thing nearly all lesson as I just couldn’t quite grasp what was being asked. The tutor who helped me to achieve my GCSE maths, the tutor who encouraged me to take A level maths because he knew I could. – and I did!! Without him, I could be in a very different place.

Obviously, there are things which my tutor DIDN’T DO.

HE NEVER SAID – THIS IS EASY.

I had decided from being very young that I couldn’t do maths, I also had this confirmed by those around me. With my tutor next to me I never heard these words, and therefore I didn’t internalize these negative views to my abilities, by hearing that something is easy, we immediately devalue the experience to those who are finding it difficult.

HE NEVER SAID – YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS

This phrase immediately makes you feel that you should know this topic and why do you not know this? But also makes the already sensitive student feel as though there is blame aimed towards them for not knowing this aspect of maths.

WHAT HE DID SAY IS:

‘Well done’, ‘you’re clever’, ‘gosh you did that quickly’, and ‘you have a real understanding of that topic.’ All of these short phrases really built me up and had me believing in myself once again.

We created HB Tutoring to help all students as individuals, we help and work with the families to enable students to reach their full potential. Our tutors are very carefully selected to ensure they are empathetic, thorough, have an awareness of the curriculum and of most importance they are qualified teachers themselves.

For extra support you can also consider hiring a teacher specialising in maths tutoring, you can find more information on how we help improve our student’s confidence in maths here.

To find your perfect tutor click here, for any other support please don’t hesitate to contact us here.

If you would like to have a friendly informal chat with us regarding a tutor at any level please call a member of our team on: 0333 335 5139