Something I Want to Learn Before the End of the Year

When I first saw this week's Tutor Talk topic — “Something you want to learn before the end of the year” — my first thought was, “That's quite a broad question!”

There are only about 120 days left in the year, so I decided that rather than choosing something I could simply tick off a list, I wanted to choose something that could genuinely improve my teaching.

My goal is:

I want to learn how to build a better, more sustainable online tutoring business.

That sounds like a huge goal for 120 days — and it probably is. So instead of trying to learn everything at once, I'm going to break it down into four stages, one month at a time.

And although the focus is on building my tutoring business, there are three skills that will run through the entire process: lesson planning, using AI effectively, and becoming more confident with technology.

September: Learn to Build Better Lessons

The first step has to be the foundation: the lessons themselves.

I want to become better at designing lessons that are purposeful, engaging and appropriate for the individual student.

It is easy to think that a good lesson simply needs interesting activities. But I'm learning that activities are only useful when they serve a purpose.

So my focus for September will be asking:

• What exactly do I want my student to learn?
• How am I going to get them there?
• How can I make the student actively participate rather than simply listen?
• How can I adapt a lesson to suit a particular learner?
• How will I know whether the student has actually achieved the objective?

This also means looking more carefully at the structure of my lessons.

Rather than simply thinking, “What can I teach today?”, I want to think:

“What do I want my student to be able to do by the end of this lesson?”

That small change in thinking can make a surprisingly big difference.

October: Learn to Use AI More Effectively

I've already discovered how useful AI can be for teaching. But there is a big difference between asking AI to make me a lesson and learning how to use AI as a teaching assistant and thinking partner.

This is where my prompting skills come in.

Instead of:

“Give me a lesson about tenses.”

I can provide the student's age, level, interests, previous knowledge, lesson length, objectives and challenges — and ask AI to help me create something specifically suited to that learner.

But I don't want AI to replace my thinking.

I want to learn how to use it to:

• brainstorm ideas
• challenge my lesson plans
• create differentiated activities
• generate practice material
• role-play as a student
• identify gaps in my lesson
• suggest alternative approaches
• help me turn one idea into several different activities

In other words, I don't want AI to become the teacher.

I want to become a better teacher because I know how to work with AI.

November: Become More Comfortable with Technology

This is probably the area where I have the most room to grow.

Online tutoring isn't just about teaching. There is an entire technological side to it.

Presentations, interactive activities, digital whiteboards, online resources, screen sharing, video, audio, recording and other tools can all potentially make a lesson more engaging.

But there is a danger here too.

Technology should serve the lesson, not become the lesson.

I don't want to use a fancy tool simply because it is fancy.

I want to learn:

What technology actually improves this particular learning experience?

Perhaps it is a simple presentation.

Perhaps it is an interactive game.

Perhaps it is an audio clip.

Perhaps it is a collaborative activity.

Or perhaps the best technology is no technology at all — just a really good question and a conversation.

My goal is therefore not to learn every educational technology tool available.

It is to become more confident and intentional about choosing and using technology.

December: Learn to Build the Business

Once I have worked on the lessons, AI and technology, I can start putting everything together.

This is where I want to look at the business side of tutoring.

How do I present myself professionally?

How do I create lesson packages?

How do I attract students?

How do I encourage students to return?

How do I showcase the lessons I create?

How do I use platforms such as CafeTalk effectively?

And perhaps most importantly:

What makes my tutoring different?

I don't expect to have all the answers by December.

What I want is to have a much clearer understanding of what I am building and what I need to do next.

Why 120 Days?

The interesting thing about this challenge is that 120 days isn't really enough time to master all of these things.

But it is more than enough time to start learning, experimenting and improving.

And perhaps that's the real lesson behind this week's topic.

We sometimes think learning means reaching a point where we can say:

“I've learned it.”

But many of the most valuable skills don't work that way.

Teaching doesn't.

Technology doesn't.

Business doesn't.

And certainly AI doesn't.

They are constantly changing, which means that learning becomes an ongoing process rather than a destination.

So, over the next 120 days, I don't want to become a perfect online tutor.

I want to become a better one.

And if, by 31 December, my lessons are stronger, my use of AI is smarter, my technology skills are better and I have a clearer vision for my tutoring business, then I'll consider those 120 days very well spent.

**My goal isn't to finish learning.

It's to finish the year knowing what I can do next.**