A bit about Josh

My name is Josh and I'm an enthusiastic tutor from Scotland. I enjoy music, hiking and kayaking! I have three relevant qualifications - soon to be four- and have taught a wide range of students. For example, I have taught young children as young as seven and adults up to 63! I am familiar with the UK curriculum and have experience teaching students with additional needs. My main qualifications surround teaching English as a second language but I have other more general English tutoring qualifications. As a result, I have a great deal of experience in ESL and ESOL with students overseas and refugees settling in Scotland. Additionally, I tutor young children and teenagers from KS1 to A-level. Usually I begin lessons with a 'getting to know you' activity if it is our first time meeting. If we have met before then I usually go over homework and any questions you may have about the previous lesson. We would then move into a warm up activity which would introduce the lesson topic. Afterwards I would take you through some guided practice and then you would have an opportunity to carry out some independent practice. Lastly, we would have a short and fun end activity which will consolidate the learning before I assign homework. I first started tutoring three years ago as a volunteer for my local council where I taught a group of Syrian refugees. Since then, I have worked for a number of different companies, councils, organisations and charities. During this time, I have gained three teaching and tutoring qualifications and am due to complete a forth before started an MEd. I am extremely passionate about my job for a number of reasons. Firstly, I enjoy making a real difference in someone's life. This can be in the form of helping refugees with integration or seeing improvement in the confidence of young learners. Overall, the progress of my students is what makes the job worth it. Although I carry out a number of teaching styles depending on the context I mostly have a student-centred approach. I understand there is no 'one size fits all' when it comes to learning. For example, I have a young student who was struggling with all aspects of English and I have been able to help him reach the level of his peers by producing personalised lessons for him which involve lessons surrounding Fortnite, rugby and star wars. My favourite thing about being a tutor is my students. I enjoy building a rapport and finding out about their lives. This is not only important for me in a professional sense but in a personal sense. through building good tutor/student relationships and I have taught students for a number of years and seen them progress and reach their goals! I believe that every student has the ability to achieve their goals if the learning environment is right. For example, some students are very sensory with their learning and need to use more of their senses, some students are mainly auditory and some students need real life examples of the task in hand. Every student is different and as a result should be presented with an appropriate teaching style. Through various feedback over the years I can confirm that students generally find me patient, gentle and kind which have contributed directly to rapport building, improving confidence and ultimately the students learning experience and prospects. This is achieved by guiding students through learning experiences. The greatest success I have had with teaching was when I was preparing a Nepalese woman for her IELTS exam. She needed a massive improvement in her test scores otherwise she would have lost the ability to apply for citizenship. I taught her three times a week covering various topics and grammar points. Today she has citizenship and is studying to become a nurse. My first qualification I gained was a PDA in ITESOL. This allowed me to practice as a tutor and gain valuable experience. Then, after six months, I enrolled in the Cambridge CELTA qualification which gave me a much broader knowledge of my subject but also teaching methodologies. Soon after, I completed a 'grammar for teachers' course which consolidated my knowledge in unusually and difficult grammar points. Lastly, I am enrolled in 'Teaching ESOL literacies to Adults' which I am carrying out before I start my masters in education. I was inspired to become a tutor when I worked for a well known coffee chain. During this time, there was a point when I was the only English speaker. This was difficult a difficult situation to be in but it motivated me to help my co-workers with their language skills. Just seeing their progress was enough of a catalyst to decide to tutor as a career. Outside of tutoring I have several interests. I love being outdoors and have recently completed a four day hike across Scotland. I also like walking and sea kayaking. When I'm feeling less energetic I like to cook or go out to restaurants. My favourite cuisines are Mexican and Japanese. Lastly, I am nearly always listening to music and source much of my new music through BBC Radio 6 Music. As I am based in the UK I am familiar with KS1, KS2, KS3, GCSE, A-Level, Nationals, Highers, Advanced Highers and so on. Outwith this, I am always familiar with exams for ESL and ESOL. For example, I have experience in preparing students for IELTS and Cambridge English exams and have some experience teaching TOLES and business English.