Information about Mai - Nambour tutor

Personal Description:

Hello.

My name is Mai and I was born in London, United Kingdom but now I live in the glorious sunshine state of Queensland, Australia. I am fortunate to have quiet beaches, the lovely countryside, and beautiful mountainous views right on my doorstep.
I love reading; auto-biographies and children's books are my favourite; I am a huge fan of Roald Dahl. I am currently writing a book to help children understand their parents' auto-immune conditions. I love making home produce, for example fermented foods such as kimchi and sauerkraut.

I have an Arts background; I hold a BA in Creative writing and a MA in Journalism. Additionally, I am also TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) qualified which has equipped me with the skills and knowledge required to teach language and literacy to students from a non – English speaking background.

Tuition Experience:

I am an enthusiastic and extremely passionate educator. I have 6 years of teaching experience in English working in both mainstream primary and secondary classrooms, colleges, and private one-on-one tutoring. I have worked with children aged between 4 – 16 years old, and adults in person and online.

I attained a Masters in Journalism, BA (Hons) in Creative Writing and and hold a Certificate IV in TESOL which provided a framework to improve my practice greatly, but also enabled me to build specific skills in areas of teaching methodologies. I apply this confidently to enhance students overall learning and work with the student to effectively plan and tailor the lessons to ensure their progress.

During my teaching experience in various educational institutions, I acted as a main support for teachers in the management of pupils in the classroom. I have managed children in Years 3 to 6 by assisting individuals with key stage 1 and 2 in numeracy and literacy assignments, implementing differentiated papers as well as providing extra support on a one-to-one basis in reading and writing to pupils with learning difficulties. Through assessment for learning during lessons and reflective practice afterwards, I adapt my teaching to challenge every student to excellence and therefore promote successful learning in all.

As a private tutor for over 10 years, I have guided students with their English and literature for year 7 - 12 in Queensland and New Zealand and GCSE / A-level in the UK, as well as thesis writing help, proof reading and creative writing for adults in Japan and China.

Furthermore, my compassion, patience and understanding for every individual has been demonstrated through teaching English to college students by creating a different working program that helps them feel comfortable. My students and I discussed and debated texts to ensure we were able to access the curriculum in the most effective way. The rapport I built with them also helped me maintain strong, secure and trusting relationships which helped achieve very positive results.

Tutoring Approach:

My first and foremost goal is to help support student learning through guidance, understanding their needs and creating resources tailored to their ability that are engaging and challenging.

I am keen to offer tutoring to all levels (beginner – intermediate - high) and both children and adults who have basic knowledge of English or who would like to improve their skills at a more comfortable pace. I also welcome advanced learners who would like to refine their skill set in specific areas.

My tuition is designed to ensure language is absorbed effectively; the content is broken into bite size pieces and the structure is easy to follow, I cover all areas of language aspects (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) and I also enjoy proofreading, correcting documents and essay writing techniques.

I discuss personalised study plans that suit the student and I can create customised resources suitable for their ability. Before teaching, I will assess current ability/level in the topic area and review previous learning. I then ensure that I am using formative assessment at regular intervals so that I can give immediate, specific feedback to the student. After the lesson I give overall feedback to help them understand where to focus on their strengths and weaknesses. I also normally give a task for the student to practice until our next lesson.