Gerry

Hello, I have recently retired and am looking to share my skills in the French language and culture with a new generation of children. I am thoroughly versed in establishing a rapport with young adults and look forward to using new and entertaining methods to challenge my students whilst allowing them to have fun exploring new concepts. The context of one-to-one motivation will allow a stimulating dialogue to take place. Even the shyest student can be encouraged to shine if confidence can be engaged at an early stage. I find that all students enjoy learning provided that they are not pressurised artificially. The inherent love of learning can be stimulated by continual reinforcement and gentle guidance. I do not promise miracles but all students will be given my best attention to set them on the right path and to support the syllabus that they learn at school.

Availability: As I am now retired, I am fairly flexible especially at weekends or post-school but other times can be arranged on request.

Willing to travel: 20 miles

Experience: I hold a Certificate in Further Education which gave me significant understanding of the role of the teacher in the classroom, the importance of setting clear learning objectives and ensuring not only that the student remained engaged in the learning process but that they understood clearly why they were learning certain things and how this would help them. The course allowed me to take on board the importance of reflective teaching in other words to continually review and revise the methodology of the teaching/learning process. I have a very wide experience in the effective delivery of systems training courses with my former employer,t he British Library, from which I derived extensive knowledge of information transfer and post-course evaluation through questionnaire and online assessment as well as understanding the requirements for continual reinforcement including checklists and summary testing, where appropriate - with the objective always to reward and motivate the student for successes but also to identify where areas of weakness needed to be reinforced.
I use a variety of methods to capture the interest of the student. Initially, I base my approach on the topics that naturally interest the student. Once I have discovered a theme then I base my methods on that theme offering a range of teaching directions. I constantly seek to stimulate the student probing to establish weaknesses and then creating opportunities to break through any uncertainties. A huge range of resources are available to encourage the reluctant learner and I find that, whilst a core of tries-and-tested systems such as flash cards or games, continue to produce results, on-going insertion of more unusual views such as songs or counting rhymes appeal to children of all abilities.