Information About Sandra - Newent teacher -

(39 reviews)

Personal Description:

Whilst learning Spanish as an adult, I was continually analysing the teaching methods and resources and began mentally creating an 'ideal' way to teach the language to others in the future. I have dedicated my life to teaching and learning and still love both. Students have often said I am very patient and I am naturally methodical and organised. As a tutor, I am gentle and encouraging, recognising the potentially vulnerable position of the student and often needing to break down long-held negative self beliefs, whilst seeking always to stretch the student to reach their potential. During my teacher training and early teaching years, I learned a lot about how children best learn but I realised a lot more during my time as a home-educating parent and absorbed even more in my NLP Master Practitioner training. Adults are surprisingly similar to children in their needs as learners. A relaxed, lighter approach creates an environment more conducive to absorption of new learning and reduces any association with past stressful learning experiences.

Teaching Experience:

I have been a private tutor (in person and online, with individuals and groups) for 15 years. Having gained an Honours Degree in Pure Mathematics and a PGCE, I went into primary school teaching. Later, I home-educated my sons from infancy, including teaching them Spanish to A* at GCSE in one year whilst teaching myself. After gaining A grade in Spanish at A level in September 2004, I began teaching Spanish to adults at a local college, using the course that I designed. Since then, I have been tutoring Spanish, maths and English for 13 years, teaching Spanish at adult evening classes and gaining private students through First Tutors Academic and by personal recommendations… I have studied and practised NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) to Master Practitioner level, which has further enriched my learning and teaching skills. I have taught English to speakers of other languages and adult numeracy and literacy classes. I am currently writing a 'teach yourself Spanish' course.

Teaching Approach:

Above all, I aim for the learner to feel good about themselves, through acknowledging every little success and my students soon begin to trust that it is safe to risk mistakes and can move confidently into unfamiliar territory. I decided what were the most essential elements of Spanish needed for being in a Spanish speaking country and designed the first several lessons of my Spanish course accordingly, then introduced each next most vital element step by step thereafter. The main focus for Spanish for adults is to become progressively more fluent verbally, even from being a complete beginner, through an understanding of how the Spanish build sentences and how they use verbs. Within a few lessons, my students get a feel for how sentences are structured and feel comfortable with the basic structure of the language and, since lessons are dedicated to speaking and any writing is saved for 'homework', confidence in speaking quickly builds. Spanish GSCE students tend to need clarification on what they have been taught in school, eg the construction of tenses, and benefit from learning ways to earn more marks easily in exams. I am happy to run group lessons to reduce the cost for each student.