Tutors

[Lingva]

In secondary school I had a tutor for French because I was really lacking confidence in speaking. It didn't help very much though because I wasn't comfortable talking to the tutor either but I did gain a certain confidence in my French skills though, which I was lacking before.

During the IB I had a tutor for Maths when I still did Standard (I moved down to Maths Studies just before the end of the first IB year) because my maths teacher was quite bad and my class was so big that our teacher didn't have time to help everyone anyway. I didn't find that tutor incredibly useful either because the reason why I wasn't doing very good was that I had no interest in maths and wasn't prepared to dedicate extra time to practice stuff I had learned in class (it wasn't that I didn't understand the stuff, which of course would have been the point of having a tutor, I just couldn't do it quickly). But I'm sure that if there are things you don't understand or you have fallen majorly behind due to illness or something, a few extra tutor sessions could really help you.

[bLub]

If you need help, ask your teachers! I've found teachers always to be very supportive and helpful - they usually want you to get it and thus get good marks, so they generally like helping you...

[gkong]

Everyone is very crazy about tutors at my school. I have friends with tutors for every subject they're doing. Tutors can be useful, I find going to teachers and asking for help more efficient; they know what you're studying and know your work ethic it seems easier than going to tutors or even have tutors come over.

[Charizard]

I don't have any tutors but a lot of people in my school do. Perhaps it's a cultural thing, since the general area and population can affect the acceptance, availability and quality of tutors. If you're planning on or are unsure about getting one then I'd suggest asking around with people in your classes or people taking the same IB courses and trying out tutors that people say are good.

[Sonneteer_Trombonist]

In my school, we have a tutorial centre where anyone (IB or non-IB) can go to get help from one of the IB2 students at lunch break. I find that if you understand the material and just need practice, then teaching is one of the most useful way to learn. If you sort of struggle with it and need the student's help, they're pretty forgiving because they still get something out of it.

A couple people in my Math SL class are tutored by a retired professor from our school and they find it pretty useful. The great thing about a tutor is that he/she will often offer a different way of looking at things than your regular teacher and/or some different methods of tackling the question. Even if your teacher is good and helpful, sometimes the extra practice with a one-on-one coach is useful. My Math SL teacher is amazing and really knows his stuff, but he goes a bit fast sometimes and, even though he'll backpedal to explain everything to anyone who needs it, some students find it helpful to just have extra practice where they can take their time through a concept with someone to illustrate the concept when they need it.

What I thought was the most useful way for all involved was to have "study parties" where everyone would get together and work on whatever they needed to work on, and whenever they needed help, one of the other students there would have a good knowledge of the concept and could help them. It's much less intimidating than a tutor, I think, because it's just your friends, and they were right there in class with you so they can draw on whatever the teacher has done in class. And there's always more people there to help if one person doesn't have all the answers.

[Amber]

For some people it deffinatley helps, and for others it doesn't do anything. I have been a tutor myself for years now (to little kids) and have seen it myself. Some kids need the one-on-one to explain things they don't understand. So if there are concepts that you don't understand get a tutor to explain it to you. I have had a tutor, but it doesn't work for me. When I don't understand something I go to my teacher afterschool, or my friends. Tutors aren't cheap, but give it a shot, it might just help you out. It is worth a try.