Your first Cambly class. Hints & Tips

Today’s post is from a guest blogger. Sharon is from the UK and is a Cambly Supertutor.

Do I have any tips?, Well actually, yes I do! So before you press that “available” button, or throw yourself into a Cambly Priority Hour, here are a few things that should help you out.

• Starting the conversation. Open with a warm and friendly greeting. “Hi my name’s Sharon, nice to meet you. What’s your name and where are you from?”  Also if you are unsure, ask the student how to pronounce their name. There’s nothing worse than mispronouncing a students name!
• Smile, be friendly. Yes it’s obvious, but you’d be surprised how far a smile and a positive attitude will get you!
• Listen.  Listen to your student, be interested in what they have to say.  Make mental notes on questions you can ask or points you may want clarified. This will help move the conversation along and keep it flowing.  For example if a student mentions their dog in conversation, ask the dog’s name, how long have they had it, where did you get it, what breed is it, who walks it,  is that a popular dog in your country…etc.
• What do they want?  In my first lessons I just jumped straight in and took the conversation where I wanted, instead of where the student wanted! After your greeting, ask them if there is anything they want to work on today.  I once spent 20 minutes discussing Covid 19 with a student before they reminded me that they wanted to work on interview questions!
• Take notes.  Cambly gives you a handy dandy box in which to take student notes. USE IT!  You may want to remember the student’s job, or if they are still studying, what city they are from, their hobbies etc. PRO TIP If you don’t see a student for a while it amazes them when you say “of course I remember you *looks at notes* You’re a pilot and you’re from Istanbul! “
• Give corrections. Students learn from their mistakes, but if you don’t tell them they’ve made a mistake how will they learn?! Students want to be corrected, they need to know that you are listening to them and are able to guide them. Write errors or mistakes in the chatbox, but don’t get carried away!  Gently guide the student, don’t constantly interrupt them during every sentence.
• Bookings. Whether you open PH’s or just  open reservations, book your slots at least a week in advance. if a student likes your class and wants to book again next week, there are slots ready for them. If they can’t see any slots, they’ll go elsewhere! You could just have lost a student wanting to reserve 3 one hour slots a week for 6 months!
• Keep an eye on the clock. There’s nothing worse than running out of time and having the video shut off when you’re in the middle of a conversation! Also, if anyone from Cambly is reading this, an audible alert would be nice when the clock reaches 2 minutes. You know, a little ‘Ding’ or something. Sometimes us tutors will be in another browser tab (a reading lesson for example) and not be  aware of the clock!
• Finishing up. Give yourself at least a minute or two to wind things up. Summarize the class,  and give feedback. I use the ‘hamburger’ feedback system. Put any negative feedback between two positive feedbacks.  Eg. “Great lesson, especially your pronunciation. We need to work a little on some grammar areas, but the description of your home town was very good!”
• Explain.  Always tell the student what you are doing. If you are going to be taking notes in a notebook, let them know.  If you are typing notes into the chat, let them know. “Hi, just to let you know, if you see me looking away from the screen during the class, it’s because I’m writing notes. *shows notebook*  Also I may be typing some notes into my Cambly notepad during class.”  This will prevent the student from assuming that you are distracted during class or that you are checking facebook while teaching!
• Don’t leave the class. It goes without saying, but don’t just up and leave during class. If the situation arises that you absolutely HAVE to leave (maybe the neighbour is banging on your front door and wont stop), explain to the student that you have to leave class for a minute or so and you will close the class to prevent them losing their minutes. Ask them to call you straight back and you will resume the lesson. Under no circumstances should you abruptly end a class!

I hope that was helpful. These are all the things I wish I’d known when I was a new tutor and not had to realise them over time! if you have any questions or just want to say hello, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Sharon (Queen of Hearts)