A day in the life of a Brightlink Tutor
By Teresa Watkins
Hi, I’m Teresa and this blog is a about a typical day for me as a full-time tutor at Brightlink.
My role at Brightlink is varied and interesting and I am lucky to work within a wonderful team. I also get to meet lots of lovely people and dedicated learners on a daily basis.
I work from home and my office is geared up for my work as an e-learning tutor. Working from home is brilliant in that it offers flexibility, however it is also important to be able to close the door on work and take time out sometimes, as we would when leaving an office based job behind for the weekend! I live in Cyprus so the flexibility is great as it means that I can plan my working days so that I am not usually working in the extreme heat of lunchtime and early afternoon. I may have to relax this routine if work, such as learner appointments, needs me to be available. Some working days are longer than others, so if I work a long day, such as today, I can usually arrange to work a shorter day following that.
So, here is one of my days…….
05.30
I usually rise at this time in the summer months as my husband and I will take our pet dog, Flossie, for a walk along the paths overlooking the beaches. It is important to be out and about early before the heat of the day sets in and makes it impossible for dog-walking due to the extreme heat of pathways and pavements. At this time of year the sun rises while we are out and about and this always makes for a good photo shoot opportunity!
06.45
Time for a quick coffee and household tasks like loading the laundry, dishes etc. before……
07.00
The working day begins with checking and responding to emails. Today was a Monday and there tend to be more emails from learners following weekends. I use this first part of my day for checking my diary and for scheduling meetings any of my learners have requested. In this part of my working day I also record learner correspondence on Brightlink’s Sharepoint.
08.45
Time for a breakfast break and a coffee with my husband before he leaves for work
09.15
Back to my desk. This morning is going to be taken up with printing off skills submissions ready for marking, and then getting on with marking these. Whilst this time of year is quieter for some aspects of my role (as we await examination results in just a few weeks), skills marking is now in full swing as the final submission deadline for January 2020 is almost upon us.
12.15
It’s time for my lunch and afternoon break, which today I spend mostly in the swimming pool!
15.15
I begin preparation for our evening meal. Tonight, we will eat later than usual as I have a late meeting scheduled.
16.00
Now for the second part of my working day: Before I get down to working on a unit review and update, I carry out some research. Today I have around one hour to work on this this as I need to prepare for this evening’s meetings.
18.00
Meeting via video call with learner to discuss progress on Level 6 Legal Research Skills unit.
19.30
Meeting via video with learner to discuss progress on Level 6 Client Care Skills unit
20.45
Short break to continue dinner preparation, with husband enlisted for final cooking of our meal!
21.00
Induction meeting with a level 6 learner new to Brightlink. It’s always a pleasure to meet with new learners and to discuss their study plans, career etc. and also how we will work together towards their success. This is a joint meeting with one of our lovely new tutors as we both work with this new Graduate Fast Track learner.
21.30
And so my working day comes to an end and I sit down for dinner with my husband. We spend the rest of the evening sitting in the garden and relaxing and chatting about our day.
23.15
It’s ‘goodnight’ from me zzzzz…..