A bit about Joanna L

I am a qualified, experienced primary school teacher with over 12 years experience teaching classes from Nursery to Year 2 in the UK and abroad. It is teaching young children (Early Years and Key Stage 1) which I most love as well as those who may struggle with learning for any reason. I feel I have a deeper understanding and empathy for those with additional learning needs. When my first child was small I did the training necessary to become an Ofsted registered childminder and my service was rated 'outstanding' on inspection. More recently I have taught adults art locally and during the pandemic taught two young sisters online for a year when they were shielding from Covid. I am amazed by what is possible through online learning! I have always loved working with young children and most of my experience is within the Early Years and Key Stage One although I have worked with older children (Key Stage Two) and I have taught adults art. I am very creative and like to approach teaching from this perspective. I love the process of learning and making sure each step is looked at, not leaving any gaps to help each individual become a confident, competent learner. When tutoring I feel it is crucial to approach phonics, reading, writing and maths with a step by step approach to ensure there aren't any learning gaps, building a solid foundation moving forward. I like to incorporate children's interests into the learning process as much as possible and have found that this as well as teaching in a cross-curricular way can better engage learners in the world around them making their understanding more meaningful. I use the National Curriculum and supporting government documentation to plan out all teaching and learning for KS1 and the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum (for children in Nursery and Reception, 'the Early Years'). After an initial conversation with the parent/carer and/or learner having asked questions about potential areas of difficulty and areas to focus on moving forward I make a plan for the upcoming session. I find that planning an hourly session into ten/fifteen or twenty minute activity slots works well, keeping a focus and pace and breaking things up, giving the whole session momentum. At the beginning of each session I look at the session plan with the learner and refer back to this, ticking off activities during the session as we have achieved what has been set. At the end of each session I review this plan and discuss any areas of difficulty and enjoyment to help with moving forward together in the next session. I think it is important to give feedback straight away where possible and if not or plan time to do this as soon as possible, revisiting any areas of difficulty during our next session together. Where an area needs revisiting I approach the subject in a different way which I feel will best suit the learner. I first started tutoring (in person) in London in 2016. Shortly after this my family and I moved away from London and in 2020 - 2021 I planned and taught two sisters online via Zoom for one academic school year. During this period I communicated closely, daily with parents and wrote termly and end of year reports which were shared with parents and their next school. Prior to the pandemic I also taught adults art locally which I really enjoyed. I have always been creative and love to collage, draw, paint, write and illustrate children's stories and sew. I have an online Etsy shop which I opened in 2016, making and selling decorative items for children and more detailed nature inspired brooches. I am passionate about children's books, reading and stories and recently have been learning about children's books from published author-illustrators. I am in the process of writing and illustrating my own picture books which is very exciting! Although I have taught children from pre-school and Nursery age up to Year 6 - I particularly love the Early Years and Key Stage One (School Years 1 and 2). These are my preferred age groups to teach, however this depends on each learners needs and I would love the opportunity to support an older child who needed to revisit some of the foundation skills needing further support for whatever reason. My dad was a Primary School Head Teacher and although he often discouraged me (!) from following his lead (he felt teaching was very demanding and stressful!) I knew I wanted to teach from a young age and this is what I trained to do at University. Growing up we had many foster children staying with us of all different ages and I knew I wanted to do a job which made a difference to the lives of young people. Friendly, calm and patient whilst also being extremely organised with high expectations, a sense of pace and an eye for detail! I like to personalise what I teach so that it is specific and relevant to each learner and I source (and make!) resources which are clear and bright to assist with this. I follow a clear (shared) routine via a 'session plan' but I am flexible with this, responding to the needs of each learner throughout every session. Working with young children I like to mix up activities so that periods of listening are broken up with interactive games and movements/songs, balanced with table activities/tasks. If something is not working I switch things around to keep the learner motivated, interested and happy! Through being a tutor I love that you really get to know each learner on an individual basis and so can plan and deliver work to suit them and the way they learn best. I work extremely hard to make sure that the teaching style and content suits the individual and when they enjoy what they are learning, are motivated to learn more and are proud of their effort of what they have achieved they can feel this, it shows and it it is this which makes it teaching a valuable, worthwhile and privileged position to be in. I have a BEd Hons, 2:1 (specialising in art) with Qualified Teacher Status. I qualifed from University Collage Chester (part of Liverpool University) in 1999 and began my teaching career in inner city London, working in some challenging and deprived areas. I taught in various primary schools and early years settings in London and Kent for ten years. I would hope it is the fact that I am warm, honest and open and that I really listen. Humour is key to making learning fun as is having a common understanding of where each other is coming from. From our first meeting I make sure I share information about who I am in a clear, relevant way to help form that important bond setting us off on our learning journey together. Learners love it when their specific interests and preferences are considered and I plan in getting to know you tasks. Understanding each other on a more personal level helps form a better teaching/learning relationship enabling me to plan ahead linking to those interests and needs in a relevant way. While I think it's essential to have routine, structure and clear expectations I also think it's extremely important to be flexible and remain in the moment. By acknowledging when a learner is tired or has made a great achievement the learner feels valued and listened to as the individual that they are. When I was teaching a Reception aged child (online) they knew very few sounds when we started working together. I planned a very specific, clear approach session by session (which I shared with parents) to introduce and revisit each phonetic sound, building on this knowledge every day as well as playing interactive games helping to reinforce their recognition of different sounds in different contexts. In a matter of weeks this child began to string sounds together to read and write words and within a term was reading simple (pink level) books and writing sentences. I was amazed. Their progress was phenomenal! To enjoy the process - starting with a smile! I believe that it is only when we are relaxed and motivated that we learn well. Learning should be challenging but needs to be enjoyable and I work hard to strike that balance. I have high standards and expectations but I quickly become tuned in to each learners needs so that the pace is manageable yet motivating. Teaching is best when the learner is engaged and fully understands what they are doing. There are many different ways to look at something and one way doesn't suit all - when I teach I work hard to make sure the delivery is as clear as possible to the learner and will revisit things in different ways until the concept is understood.