A bit about Paula A

I currently live in the UK but am originally from the US. I grew up in Maryland, surrounded by the water and had an idyllic childhood full of fun, activities and adventure. At 18 I moved to Wilmington, North Carolina where I studied Psychology and Spanish. From there I moved to Madrid, Spain after completing a TEFL course, which is where I first began teaching English to children from 2 years old to 8 years old. Around the same time I also became a tour guide and taught Spanish history to people from all over the world! After my time in Spain I moved on to Edinburgh, Scotland where I learned and taught Scottish history. I am passionate about storytelling, teaching and creativity! I like to break my lessons into a three piece method comprised of vocab: visuals: song. I believe it is effective to first provide the new information, such as vocabulary or sentence structure followed by photographs or other visual aids and finally finishing with music/songs to bring the newly learned information together in a memorable way. Most importantly I believe that it is important to always add an element of fun and always be creative. I first began tutoring when I moved to Madrid, Spain in 2010. I taught children as young as two years old and even began working in a classroom with babies under two for an English daycare group. I love watching the kids enjoy themselves and get excited about learning something new and remembering something from the previous week. Being a teacher and being able to provide knowledge and tools to kids and give them something to remember is an extremely rewarding experience. In the world we live in today it is extremely useful for kids to have English for their future. In my studies I specialised in psychology, Spanish and creative industries. In life and work I specialise in teaching. I have spent most of my career as a tour guide, teaching history and teaching English to children. When it comes to teaching my speciality is implementing fun and dynamic methods. My interests outside of teaching are decorating and event planning. I am passionate about design from the smallest of decorations to the planning a large event. I am also a lover or travel and have been to many countries around the world, inspired by different cultures and cuisine! I enjoy visiting countries that are very different from my own. I have a TEFL certificate. I have 2 years of teaching English to children in a Spanish school in Madrid and 8 years of teaching via tour guiding in two different countries. I decided that I wanted to teach because I am a people person, wanting to do a job surrounded by people and I love to help people by nature. I feel that I have a gift for being articulate and knowing how to talk to people; with this I knew that I could be successful in teaching and explaining a new language in a way that made sense. I believe that what students love the most is the fun that we have. When kids laugh while they're learning you can guarantee that things are being instilled into their minds and their memory banks. They love spontaneity in a lesson and they seem to be excited for a new lesson. My teaching philosophy is to create a learning experience which is memorable. I always strive to put myself into the lesson. I cater the lesson to the child if it is a one on one lesson and I understand that each kid is different and has certain demands in different areas. It is my job to cater to those. My favourite thing about being a tutor is simply seeing my teaching methods working. I enjoy knowing that my hard work is paying off and that the student is having fun in the process. My teaching style is to be creative and informative, not relying on flashcards and textbooks. I am a very creative person and believe that anything can be achieved with a vision. I incorporate my vision into my lessons to pick students' curiosity and try to balance the academic element with an element of excitement.