Claire

A bit about Claire

I have recently graduated with a first class degree in Sociology and Social Anthropology from the University Edinburgh which entails seeking to understand the social world and how humans move through it in alternating ways. I think my degree has given me a unique, open-minded perspective which I bring to my teaching by making sure my lessons are truly tailored to how a particular student understands their own world and therefore how they learn. I am currently working as an English-language teaching assistant in Lille in France where I am working in two schools with students, teaching them English and helping them learn how to improve their oral English skills. Instead of attending my final year of school in Glasgow, I decided to do something different and I au paired in French-speaking Switzerland for one year. This involved living with a host family and taking care of their children as well as teaching their children English and helping them with their homework. From this experience, I not only developed resilience, cultural awareness and knowledge of the French language, but I also realised that I love working with young people. This spurred me on to pursue tutoring which I have now been doing for over two years. Last year, I spent my study year abroad in Copenhagen which allowed me to experience the different style of teaching at the university there compared with that of Edinburgh. I think this, alongside my experience in Switzerland, has provided me with capacity to think about learning and teaching from different angles and in doing so, find a creative way in which lessons can be delivered in the best manner that will fit students' needs and allow them to thrive.

How does Claire run their lessons?

The way I run my lessons is, as already suggested, specific depending on the student. I do this firstly at the free introductory lesson when I get to know my students and see what they would like to focus on as well as assess how they tackle questions and understand topics. I like to use powerpoints that I make each week where I start by outlining what the plan for the lesson is which is usually followed by a quiz or mini test on what we had been learning the previous week before starting a new topic or past paper. I think that practice is at the core of learning and so I always include past paper examples and/or mini tests and quizzes each week. At school, I struggled a little with understanding concepts straight away. I think this has given me a unique perspective where I can find many different ways of explaining something and I also understand how to make topics as clear (and as interesting) as possible.

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