Oliver Curtis-Smith

I have experience volunteering at a local school, teaching maths to primary school students. I made and implemented engaging lesson plans for various maths topics (algebra, geometry, fractions, etc.) throughout the year. I developed strong communication skills by breaking down complex concepts for students of varying experience levels. I was happy to change my approach and teaching style in order to help out pupils who did not initially understand the topics.

At the start of the lesson, I like to have a 5-minute warm-up, which is easier than the core lesson but still relevant to the topic that we are learning, just to get the students in the right headspace. This is also the time to quickly run through the lesson plan and discuss what is going to be taught. I'll ask if the student has any initial questions about what is going to be taught and anything that they may want to change, given what they already know. Then I would introduce the topic and go through the method that I would traditionally use to solve the problems. Afterwards, it is then the students' turn to try out some questions for themselves and see how they deal with the problems and what they do well and what they potentially struggle with. Then at the end of the lesson, we would have a recap and go over what went well/what was understood/and what could be improved for next time and any particular topics that they would like to focus on in the future.