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Robert Baker-Glenn
Expert, Experienced Tuition in A-Level Chemistry and GCSE Sciences
Background
ROBERT BAKER-GLENN, MA, PhD (Cantab)
WINNER!
Wealth
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I gained an MA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, where I received a Senior Scholarship, and continued study there to obtain a PhD in Chemistry. I then continued to work in chemical research for some years before entering the teaching profession in my late thirties.
For over twenty years I worked in various state and private sector schools, teaching both GCSE and A-Level students.
In 2014 I decided to leave the school environment to become a full-time professional tutor, offering Science (Chemistry, Physics and Biology) at GCSE and IGCSE, and Chemistry at A-Level.
I also work as a Senior Examiner, marking both GCSE and A-Level papers. For some of my seventeen years in that role I worked as a Principal Examiner, writing and being responsible for the marking of GCSE Chemistry examination papers. This has given me an in-depth understanding of the expectations of the examination boards; an invaluable asset when teaching examination technique.
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Why Me?
There are many tutors around; why should you choose me?
Some tutors are very good; some less so. In choosing between them you might like to consider the following:
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Qualifications: Good academic qualifications do not necessarily guarantee good tutoring but it would be hard to tutor well, particularly at A-Level, without them.
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Teaching experience: Many tutors are just starting out in their teaching career, supplementing their income by tutoring - and some of them will be very good indeed. On the whole, though, someone with a lot of teaching experience will generally have a better idea of what works well and what does not.
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Examining experience: Examiners are also teachers; it's one of the requirements for the job. An examiner needs to be familiar with the sometimes rather strange ways that students can express themselves; it helps when judging whether a poorly or unconventionally phrased answer nevertheless shows understanding and is worthy of merit. But it also helps the other way round: being an examiner provides unrivaled knowledge of what is needed in terms of examination technique - how to answer questions in a way that will warrant full marks.
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Other available information: Look for independent reviews. Does the tutor provide testimonials from previous clients? If they work for an agency, does it operate a 'premium' system in which tutors might be given star ratings or similar based on feedback to the agency from clients? I no longer use agencies, but I did when starting out as a full-time tutor and am pleased to say that I had a top rating from all the ones I worked with. The fact that my business has built up to a level where I no longer need them is itself some kind of recommendation - word gets around! You can read comments from some of my previous clients by clicking the 'Testimonials' button.
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Free Trial: I offer your first lesson free so that you can have a trial run of my work before committing to anything further.
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Methodology
What can students expect during my lessons?
What gets taught?
The lessons are usually student led, in that they tell me what they want to cover in the lesson. It's the school's job to go through the entire course, and mine to provide extra help where the student needs it. Very often they will want to look at whatever they are currently covering in class but sometimes they will want to revise a topic, and some students like to get ahead of their teachers in school. Nearer the examinations it is likely to be revision and working on examination technique using past papers. Whatever they want to cover, it's important that they give it a little thought beforehand - even if it's only a few minutes beforehand - so that time isn't wasted in the lesson waiting for them to decide. They don't have to let me know in advance.
What happens in the lesson?
When embarking on a topic for the first time, a good part of the lesson might necessarily be spent on clear, concise but detailed exposition, but always checking that the narrative is being understood. That doesn't just mean asking if they understand, but checking that they do, for instance by asking them to explain things back to me. In revision lessons and with calculations I will expect them to do most of the work, with me prompting and reassuring where necessary. But I won't jump in if they don't answer immediately; giving a student the time and space they need to answer, and letting them know that it's all right to take that time, is very important. Nor is the lesson all talk: I use visual aids extensively.
Is homework set?
I don't generally set 'homework' in the traditional sense (they don't generally have time to do it on top of school set work, which is usually sufficient anyway), but I will often offer them some questions to look at if they wish, and always provide work for them if they request it. But I will always encourage them to consolidate the lesson in some way as soon as possible: answering some questions that I have provided or that are in their text books, reading through the topic in their books making sure they understand it, finding some questions or other resources online, and so on.
Is the lesson focused?
At the beginning of the first lesson the student will get two instructions: not to let anything pass that they don't fully understand, and to let me know if I'm wasting their time by going through things they already understand. The former is obvious, but the latter is essential too. Sometimes a student will request that we go through a particular topic and I would generally start at the beginning - but the student needs to know that they can interrupt and say, 'No, not this bit; the bit about...'. They often need reassuring that, unlike in school, they can tell the teacher what to do!
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