Description: Maria is one of our French and English tutors. Here’s a snippet of her tutor profile.
Inspiring students and comforting them during their stressful student life has always been something I cherish greatly. As the oldest sister of two siblings, I naturally gravitate towards assisting young students in achieving their personal goals.
Recently, my younger sister in Year 11 needed help in balancing the GCSE workload as well as improving her time management skills as she got closer to her exams. To combat this, I worked closely with her to establish a strict yet manageable schedule that would ensure she was using the last couple of months for revision effectively.
As a passionate, creative and highly motivated individual, I like to spend my time delving into different book genres, particularly mystery, thriller and dystopian fiction.
In this way, I like to encourage children to be constantly reading and engaging with new genres as this will expand and enrich their vocabulary. Therefore, when it comes to their English Language exams, they are well-equipped for the creative writing.
In my spare time, I like to contribute to the King’s College French Departmental Magazine which I have done for two editions. I love to create content on a variety of different topics from lifestyle to film and culture.
This inspires my teaching strategies for languages as I like to create a very immersive experience for the student by delving into the culture and traditions of the country. For example, when teaching French, I like to introduce French cinema to students because of its cultural visionary influence and its tackling of the prominent theme of identity.
My previous teaching experience ranges from mainly home tutoring as well as working at a private tuition centre with students from KS2 to GCSE level.
Through home tuition, I’ve mastered the skill of consistently preparing creative and interactive lessons based on the student’s preferred teaching method as I am completely aware that children learn differently.
I make sure to always be conducting regular tests for KS2-KS3 to track their progress and get the student familiar with being comfortable and relaxed in timed conditions.
I myself have struggled with being stressed and panicked on the day of exams in the past so I am more than happy to provide my top tips to be at ease!
For KS2 SAT preparation, I largely focused on improving creative writing skills as well as refining grammar and punctuation knowledge. To prepare for the transition between KS3 to GCSE, I concentrated on developing reading comprehension skills through past papers as well as enriching vocabulary through constant spelling tests and vocab quizzes.
My motto is once you see it, SEAL IT! This basically means that as soon as you come across a new word, search up its definition and remember it. I noticed that many students tend to just ignore the unknown word, but I always stress that you should never gloss over it because you may come across it in the future, perhaps in an exam.
At the tuition centre, I implemented mock exams into the lessons to familiarise the GCSE English Language and Literature students with planning questions and putting into practise the proposed question structures. In this way, I learnt that students were more comfortable in their time management and more aware of the appropriate vocabulary to use.
Interested in working with Maria? Contact us today.