Online English Tutor Michael
Michael
English Literature Master of Arts (MA) Distinction, Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Distinction,
$65/hr
PGCE qualified secondary school teacher, 12 years of teaching IGCSE, IBDP in elite international schools in Asia, Europe, and Africa. IB senior examiner for English A paper 2 and IA
Michael190 classes
Queen Mary, University of London - English Literature - Master of Arts (MA) Distinction, Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Distinction,
PGCE qualified secondary school teacher, 12 years of teaching IGCSE, IBDP in elite international schools in Asia, Europe, and Africa. IB senior examiner for English A paper 2 and IA
| Recent Students: 0 |
| Total Hours: 182 |
| Last Online: |
| All-time Students: 52 |
| Total Classes: 190 |
| Signed Up: |
| Recent Students: 0 | Total Hours: 182 | Last Online: |
| All-time Students: 52 | Total Classes: 190 | Signed Up: |
About Me
I am a highly qualified and experienced PGCE secondary school teacher and senior examiner of IB Diploma English with a background in professional journalism. I enjoy working with students of diverse nationalities and backgrounds, having taught at public and international schools in China, Turkey, Ethiopia, Thailand, France and the UK. I am in my final year of a research PhD in English at Queen Mary University of London, and I teach part-time as a classroom teacher in a mainstream secondary school in London, teaching A Level and GCSE English, as well as tutoring on Spires. I have high expectations of my students whom I challenge to exceed their own expectations, regardless of perceived ability. Hundreds of students have passed through my classes to achieve entrance to Oxford, Cambridge, Ivy League and Russell Group universities. As part of this process they have benefited from the one-to-one tutorials in essay writing, personal statement writing and interview techniques that I consider a vital and enjoyable part of my work as a teacher.
Tutor Experience
As a qualified secondary school classroom teacher with a PGCE (distinction), QTS, and a first class Master's degree I have tutored students one-to-one and in small groups for the past fifteen years. I have also tutored students outside of class time in small groups and one-to-one in essay writing, annotation, critical thinking, personal statement writing and interview technique. In my fifteen years of teaching in the UK and international schools around the world I have covered all the bases, having taught Key Stage 3, GCSE, IGCSE, MYP, IBDP, A Level years of curriculum experience is in teaching Key Stage 3, IGCSE and IB/A level English. In that time I have never had a failure (less than 4 in IB, or a C in A level) I have developed complete units of work on dozens of texts based on curriculum documentation, taught a full time-table (twenty-five hours a week) to classes ranging in size from one student to as many as thirty. I have worked as an acting head of department, IB Language A self-study coordinator, and coach of public speaking and debating programmes. I have also worked as a senior examiner of IB Language and Literature, working in a small team with the chief examiner to standardize the marking of other examiners and to set the grade boundaries of the May and November exams each year. This has given me a special insight into what is required for exam preparation. I am currently 'writing up' a PhD in English at Queen Mary, University of London, because I hope to transition into academia, but I do love working in the 15-18 age range. That is where I am at my best! I look forward to tutoring you on this site!
Topic Expertise
I am currently doing a PhD at Queen Mary, University of London on 19th century literature.
I have written schemes of work (units) for typical IB and IGCSE text choices, amounting to about 15GB of data, which will be available to you, along with past papers, model answers, and other resources from my classroom teaching. Authors who i have enjoyed teaching include Chimamanda Adichie, Marjane Satrapi, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Henrik Ibsen, Albert Camus, Oscar Wilde.
I think that I am at my best teaching poetry, and I have loads of resources for making this interesting and relevant!
Client Reviews
Really excellent again. Many thanks Christopher.
Dorcas - English
Worst tutor I've ever had - PLEASE READ BEFORE WORKING WITH THIS MAN.
I now realize that I've been robbed 80 EUROS short of cash. Having booked a lesson with this tutor, who proclaims to be the absolute best on the market. Actually, let me copy paste what he's told me prior to our lesson:
"Dear Lyna, please feel confident that I am one of the most experienced and successful teachers of IBDP English A on Spires, having 15 years classroom experience of teaching the curriculum at top international schools in Europe, Africa, and Asia. I have a first-class PGCE (the standard government teaching qualification) and a first-class Masters in my subject. I am also an IB examiner, so I know how to get students through the Paper 1 and Paper 2 examinations, as well as the IO and the HL essay. Which are your IO texts? I can certainly work with you starting today (Monday) to find a global issue that suits the themes of your IO texts, and to structure a response that includes the BOW (Body of Work). Getting the balance right, in the limited time (5 minutes for each extract/BOW) is the main challenge!
I have lots of resources from my career as an IB English A teacher which I can share with you, and I would be surprised if I had not taught or examined most of the texts that you are studying for English A.
Kind regards"
Very promising words. Except they're an UTTER DISTORTION OF TRUTH.
Let me start from the fact that I got absolutely nothing out from this lesson, nothing! All I ever wanted was for him to proofread my Personal Statement and let me know whether the grammar was right, and whether the language was effective enough. Contrary to his promises, the man was absolutely lifeless, and seemed as if he didn't even want to be on the lesson. He would moan/sigh all the time, and refused to read my entire essay, saying "I won't be writing the essay for you; What I can do instead, is give you general feedback". Mind you, I never wanted him to WRITE it for me, but to check for grammar mistakes. But I did not even get the "general feedback" from him. I kid you not, that man spent 60 minutes sitting on his chair like a delirious man! With no voice, whatsoever. He seemed utterly confused with his job. If you have doubts about this post, please feel free to message me, and I'll readily send you the record of our lesson.
Scandalous.
Lyna - Language A: Literature and Language
Really excellent. So glad to have found Christopher; I will be a regular.
Dorcas - English
It was a good class. Christopher is great at teaching information to me even with challenging learning disabilities. He is very open-minded to students' ideas and allows you to explain your thinking even when the idea is off the path of getting the work done. He would then guide you using that idea to make sure you are on the right track to answering questions correctly. Christopher is great for increasing your English analysis skills in a short amount of time.
Celia - English
Very helpful in-depth feedback on my essay.
Christine Rhiannon - English
Testimonials
I don't know what that one star review is about. The student must be crazy (and it reads like it). This teacher can be trusted to do a great job. Shoshi :} (9/23)
This guy is a superb teacher - really professional! Naz (IB student, London)
Tutoring Subjects
Background Checks
Verified
Qualifications
IB Senior Examiner
IGCSE Examiner
PGCE (distinction), English, University of Edinburgh
MA (distinction), English, Queen Mary, University of London
BA, English, Royal Holloway, University of London
Availability
| Weekdays | Weekends | |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | ||
| Afternoon | ||
| Evening |