Information About Jakob - Norwich teacher -

(20 reviews)

Personal Description:

I was born in Denmark, but I am bi-lingual in English and Danish thanks to spending secondary school in the acclaimed International School of Amsterdam. I live with my wife and three children in Norwich and tutor privately while working towards my Bachelor in Arabic & Middle East Studies, where I focus on Western didactic methodologies in the Arab world. I have previously lived in England a couple of years.

After graduating from High School with highest marks in both Danish and English in 1990, I have worked a number of years with pitching and branding innovative digital media, mostly in English, and copy writing and English/Danish translating for regular ad agencies.

When I got married I decided to wind down, and In 2006 I was hired to take on the daunting responsibility for the English Department at Sjællands Privatskole in Copenhagen, teaching grades 3 to 9, where I have been until moving to England in June 2013.

Teaching Experience:

Since 2006, I have mapped out the English programme and personally taught English at Sjællands Privatskole of Copenhagen, a private school catering to the Copenhagens immigrant community, a clientele fixated on measurable results; and while I am happy to say grades climbed by almost 200% during my tenure, a lot of my focus was on novel integration of social interaction with language learning.

Over the years I have hosted a number of professional development workshops to Copenhagen teachers on cooperative learning strategies to bi-lingual students.

I have privately tutored multiple subjects since 2006, one-to-one and small community classes of 5-9 pupils, as well as teaching individuals via Skype.

Teaching Approach:

Included in your own tutoring would be:
1. an analysis of your needs and wishes
2. a study plan with clear goals, which will be developed as you improve
3. homework tasks designed for you which include reading novels and interacting with locals
4. correction of your homework
5. the choice and preparation of materials specially designed for you (though you are of course welcome to bring your own materials)
6. learning to implement self-improvement strategies

I am always told I have a very engaging presence with my student, which springs from a love of teaching. I have a quite structured and goal-oriented approach, always trying to identify problems and improve methods, materials and myself as a teacher. I find this is especially important when teaching one-to-one.

An example of this is that I researched and convinced my School Principal to introduce Cooperative Learning on a massive scale, and from 2007 on, completely re-structured the English program from the ground up, gradually introducing elements as varied as social skills and personal responsibility training and social media teaching tools.