My specialist experience of working with children with SEN in developing a trusting relationship: Working at the same secondary school for my teaching career, I very soon realised that my specialism was in teaching students with a wide variety of additional needs. From pupils that needed support with reading, writing or specialised equipment to those who were at risk of exclusion, I have always managed to build up good relationships with pupils enabling them to feel at ease to ask for the right support they need to succeed in every lesson.
My experience of teaching autistic young people: Throughout my time as a teacher, I have worked with many children with Autism, each presenting different behaviours such as taking things very literally, the need to be spoken to in a calm and clear manner, requiring short breaks in tasks and needing support with writing to avoid sensory overload to name a few. Getting to know the student prior to teaching, their likes and dislikes and showing a general interest in them, goes a long way to getting the maximum out of the learning.
My experience of teaching with pupils with ADHD: I have worked with a wide variety of pupils with ADHD, both medicated and un medicated but my approach to the lesson is very individualised to the child. Keeping activities varied to increase focus and engagement will help the young person however building a good relationship with the child will maximise the learning outcome of the session.
My experience in teaching young people with Anxiety: As a teacher of the lower sets in school most of the students I teach have some form of anxiety often linked to maths. A lot of the worry comes from thinking they aren’t any good at the topic. To overcome this, I would teach a child a topic and then do weekly recaps so they retain the information and hence slowly turning them into confident and independent learners.
My experience in teaching young people with sensory and processing needs: When working with a child with sensory needs, it is crucial to identify what the need is as soon as possible. Building a positive relationship initially would help identify when a child is having sensory difficulties during the lesson. As a teacher I have a ‘tool kit’ which is full of hands-on resources and various fidget toys which I take to every session. To help processing needs, again, knowing the young person, understanding when they are processing things and when they need extra support is key to getting the most out of the learning experience.
Supporting young people with speech and language needs: Whatever subject you are teaching, ensuring young people speak in full sentences, using pictures or hands on resources to support learning, speaking slowly, using new language repeatedly and encouraging them to speak and write down thoughts and explanations with help build their confidence and ability.
My experience in teaching study/ effective functioning skills: Teaching in a mainstream school with large classes it is vital that practices to develop these skills are used daily. Building reputation of prior learning into each lesson, encouraging students to annotate their work to build independence and finishing the lesson by independent writing of step by step explanations of their understanding of the learning covered. These all help to develop a young person’s effective functioning skills enabling them to become confident independent learners.
My experience in teaching Maths and English: Every teacher has a responsibility to teach both Maths and English as part of their subject. My main subject is Mathematics at Secondary school level however my specialism is teaching those who find Maths a challenge. Ensuring a calm and supportive environment, having lots of hands on resources and building a pupils confidence ensures you get the maximum out of the child’s learning. Encouraging students to read explanations, discuss what they have learned and then allowing them to write instructions down is how I would add a literacy focus into a lesson. Whist I have not taught English as a subject on it’s own I am more than happy to work with a child on areas that they need support in, whether it be reading, writing, spelling or punctuation.
My experience of teaching social communication and language skills: Encouraging peer and team work into a classroom helps to build both social and language skills. In a one to one tutoring session that would be difficult however the young person will be interacting with a person they have never met which brings in the social element.
My experience working with young people to boost their confidence and self esteem: I’ve taught many students over my 15 years of teaching, and all have a love of learning Maths. I give them praise when they have got something right and find a way to praise when it is wrong. Quickly finding where errors have been made is easy in a one to one tutoring session so a child can’t repeatedly get questions wrong. If a child is getting things right, they feel successful which builds their confidence. By recapping each week it builds their working memory and when they get something right week after week their confidence slowly increases.
My specialist experience in providing engaging lessons and inspire a love of learning: Being an experienced teacher, I can move learning on to the next step or explain the topic in a different way in order for the pupil to feel successful. If a child feels successful, they will be engaged in their learning. My ‘tool kit’ will enable the use of hands on resources when needed without pre planning. Children love to learn, learning new things and getting things right will build their confidence, building their confidence will inspire a love of learning having said all that having the right tutor that can quickly build a positive relationship with the young person is the key!
My experience of teaching young people with SEMH/ behavioural issues: The key behind teaching pupils with behavioural issues is the build up a positive relationship with them. The behaviour is often used to mask a lack of understanding of the topic in a classroom environment but on a 1 to 1 basis I would be able to use a variety of explanations or methods, so the pupil gains a good understanding of the topic. For children with SEMH issues, I have a natural ability to identify when they haven’t got the head space to learn and how to change the flow of the lesson to suit the individual in the moment.
My experience of teaching Maths: After gaining a Maths degree as a mature student I soon found myself teaching Maths in a secondary school. I know the Foundation GCSE inside out and am very comfortable in being able to identify an individual’s weaknesses. Over the last few years, I have found my specialism in teaching young people from years 7 to 11 that find Maths a challenge, building their confidence and ability through fun lessons with lots of key skill repetition. As a tutor I have been working very successfully with both the Foundation and Higher GCSE curriculum supporting may students in gaining the grades they are capable of achieving.
My experience of teaching young people with Dyslexia: A positive relationship with the young person will enable them to feel comfortable to ask if they don’t understand. Giving them more time to write things down, making sure they have read and understood the question being asked and allowing them to verbalise an answer before putting something into their own words are some of the strategies I use within a lesson.
My experience of teaching executive functioning/ study skills: My lessons contain elements where a student will have the chance to verbalise what they have learnt and the steps they have taken to get there. This will then be written into instructions to help them read back what they have learnt and repeat the task at a late time, aiding independent learning.
My specialist experience providing engaging sessions to inspire a love of learning: Fifteen years of teaching has taught me that if a child is learning, understanding, and feeling successful then they have a love of learning. Keeping a structure to the lesson so pupils know what to expect will keep them at ease. If the explanation/ task can be done with hands on equipment that would be implemented to increase understanding.
My skills and experience supporting students to develop their independance
Part of being a teacher of Mathematics there is always an opportunity to build in financal education. Every day maths maths such as reading a timetable for a bus or train, calculating cost of shopping and simple financial planning are all needed to help them become more independant and prepare them for life. I’m a mum of two grown up, independant young adults, both able to cook a healthy meal from scratch, plan and book events as well as manage their own finances are just a few examples of life skills I have taught them. Being a one to one tutor enables life skills to be built into the standard book work a young person would need in order to pass any qualifications. Teaching ratio would link nicely to cooking meals, completing application forms linking to literacy skills are just two examples that would change a standard lesson into an engaging and interesting one which would add to independancy skills.
