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Teaching 1-on-1 Classes

Sharon de Hinojosa, Korea

Sharon de Hinojosa holds a BA in Liberal Arts from the USA and an MA in TEFL from Spain. She started teaching while in university and since then she has taught in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Sharon is currently an assistant professor at Sungkyunkwan University in Suwon.
E-mail: sharondehinojosa@gmail.com

Teaching private students can be a great way to earn a bit of extra money. It can also be great to work with just one student and see their progress. In addition, when you work one-on-one with a student you get the chance to have a more personalized relationship with the student and see them progress more than what you would see in a class of 20 or 25 students. Teachers know that teaching doesn’t just involve instruction, but involves establishing a personal relationship with the student; serving as a counselor, guide, helper, and friend in need, among others. Teaching private lessons makes it easier for you to do this.

• Create a syllabus. Even if you only have a rough guide saying what grammar, vocabulary, or theme you want to work with each week, you should create something so that you have a guide to follow. Going along with having a syllabus, you'll need materials. Whether you create your own, get things off the internet, have a book, or use a combination of the above, you'll want to have something to work with.
• Cover the four skills. Sometimes when working with 1-on-1 classes, teachers lean strongly towards one skill and forget the rest. Be sure that you're working with all skills and doing so in class. Although doing writing in class may seem to be not a good use of time, if you walk students through the writing process, you'll see that they can greatly benefit from writing during class time. In addition to the four skills, you'll also want to cover vocabulary and grammar.
• Be prepared. Although you only have one student, you still have to prepare your classes well.
• Assess your student. Tests and quizzes can be used to measure your student's progress and let you know if you need to re-teach anything.
• Be flexible. Although you've written a syllabus, you will have to remember to remain flexible. Sometimes your student may take longer to understand a concept and other times they may grasp it very quickly. Don't be afraid to vary the time, take things off, or add things to your syllabus.
• Discuss payment. Although discussing money is always difficult, make sure you come to an agreement beforehand.
• Give homework. Giving homework will ensure that your student studies outside of class.
• Be professional. Remember that although you only have one student it's still a class. A bit of casual conversation is ok, but make sure to keep on track and teach as well.
• Tailor your material. The advantage of having only one student is that you don't have to worry about mixed levels. This means that you can easily make the exercising more difficult or easier depending on your student's level.
• Have fun. Try playing some games in class. They make learning fun and can help your student.
• Don't talk too much. If you have a shy student, you'll have to get used to silence. Just because a student is silent doesn't mean they don't understand. Many times they'll just be thinking of how to say something. You might suggest that your student write down something before speaking, it is less stressful if they could write it down and correct the mistakes before speaking.

Please check the Methodology and Language for Secondary Teachers course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Teaching Advanced Students course at Pilgrims website.