Shahida Begum

I have had experience previously with a GCSE student in my current school where I taught English Language and Literature. He managed to achieve his target grade for each of the subjects and move onto the college course of his choice. I have worked/ am working with a few primary school students of different ages where we mainly focus on comprehension skills that appear in SATs and the 11+. I took the 11+ myself when I was in primary school and managed to pass and spend the next 5 years at a girls grammar school where I achieved 10 GCSEs with grades 7-9. I am now studying for my A Levels.

My lessons will include an introduction where the basic content of the lesson will be introduced and established. The student can then use this time to tell me if they understand a certain part so we can skip to the next. Or, if they are unsure or struggling with a specific area and we can spend more time on it. Then, the main lesson will take place including an explanation, at least 1 worked example then practice questions. Then, at the end of the lesson will be a summary of everything that was learnt in the lesson where we can go back to anything that the student would like to work on or improve and I will support them in clarifying their questions.

I like using PowerPoints to talk through examples of the topic that is being covered. I believe that examples are the key to explanations especially to younger children who are going through cognitive development.

I like to encourage answering questions even if the student is unsure of the answer as even a guess gives the possibility of a correct answer compared to a blank answer which is ultimately wrong. English is also subjective so it has more than one right answer and the answer a student thinks of is likely to be correct.

I will encourage the asking of questions throughout the entire session rather than solely at the end. If a student has a question about something at the start of the session, then they are likely to not understand the rest of the content until the question is answered. Therefore, questions will definitely be encouraged even if they are simple questions.