Marcia
Primary Tutor
West Norwood, South London
Through working with young, preverbal children, I have seen firsthand how much providing them a voice can impact their lives. I have worked closely with Speech and Language therapists to provide them a range of strategies to effectively communicate with me and their peers. Giving children autonomy over their lives reduces frustrations and has allowed me to build extremely close relationships with the children I have previously taught. In addition, using these strategies to communicate routines and help students understand concepts has been paramount in promoting their achievements. This therefore has allowed the students I teach to become highly independent in their routines and their work and it is immediately clear that this has a huge impact on their self-esteem.
"The use of high-impact teaching strategies will progress children’s learning where they may need extra support."
Sarah
Availability
Online & Face-to-face Sessions
Friday: 4 - 6pm
Weekends: 10am - 4pm
£110 per hour
My experience of working with children with autism
With young children, I think the biggest impact on their learning is their ability to sustain their attention. Through using a range of strategies, such as Attention Autism, Intensive Interaction and play based, child-initiated learning, I have seen the impact that these have on the child’s relationship with me and motivation to communicate and engage with tasks that I have set. I use modes of communication that are familiar to the child to enable them to request and express their understanding, if their verbal communication is limited. I am confident to use these additional strategies across the curriculum to support a student's understanding and expression of concepts. With this, it can really improve building relationships with students who typically find this more challenging. By finding strategies to find and utilise their voice, I can give them more autonomy in sessions and this immediately builds rapport, which is vital in any teaching relationship and even more so with students with additional needs. In addition to using additional communication devices, through utilising sessions such as Attention Autism and Intensive Interaction, I have also used these sessions to build relationships with the students I teach through watching their behaviour and following their lead to see what they enjoy interacting with.
My experience as a Maths Curriculum Lead
By specialising in teaching maths, I focus on supporting children who are working at a pre–Key Stage level of maths. I use multi-sensory strategies to engage the children in concepts that are abstract, which can be harder for autistic children to understand. I use songs, maths stories, problem solving and movement to embed mathematical skills in order to support a child’s understanding across the curriculum. By using stories and songs, the students I teach are more engaged and less anxious when solving problems, which sets them up for success. Following up with problem solving questions provides opportunities for them to display a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts to apply these skills across the Marcia Tettey Missmtettey@hotmail.co.uk 65 Auckland Hill, London, SE27 9PF +447783368444 curriculum. As a maths curriculum lead, I see the small steps to support each student to progress their maths understanding and can utilise this so they do not feel overwhelmed when progressing through the curriculum. I can spot common misconceptions and have a range of strategies to overcome this.
My experience as an Early Years Teacher
I have a strong passion for early intervention and have focussed on teaching Early Years children with complex learning difficulties. I have implemented routines and independence strategies during their first experiences at school, which set them up for their school careers. I have focussed on the building blocks of learning as I can see the impact that this can have on a pupil as they progress through their learning journey. Without the fundamentals, such as routine, independence, perseverance and an attitude for discovery, children struggle to remain motivated to learn and the experience doesn’t stay enjoyable. By using supports such as visual timetables and audio cues, pupils are prepped and cued to engage in sessions by being given a clear structure and are set up for success for each session. Due to my specialism in Early Years teaching, I have significant phonics training and have adapted the phonics curriculum for children who are working at pre-Key Stage levels. I believe focussing on listening skills, exploring musical instruments, and using symbols to help identify different sounds supports reading skills. Also using a range of multi-sensory strategies to write, for example using fingers in tactile materials like shaving foam, can help break the barrier of writing that some children have and can help with any tactile defensiveness they may have!
My experience in maintaining engagement and having fun during sessions!
I love to get to know the children I teach and follow their interests in order to make sessions fun. I’m not afraid to get messy and love exploring a range of items to wake up the senses and make sure we’re having fun the whole time during the session. I love music and use it a lot in my sessions to provide movement breaks and make sure we can engage with the sessions and avoid any challenging behaviour. By taking the time to understand the students I have worked with, I can start to understand what motivates them and what they enjoy and take the time to incorporate this in our sessions.
My experience creating boundaries and positive behaviour strategies.
Throughout my career I have experienced when children are dysregulated and unable to engage in learning activities. I always see this as a communication, perhaps about the activity or perhaps about their sensory system. I like to create a calm environment and make sure that I am using strategies and language that do not overload the children. I also try and provide choices as often as I can to promote the child’s voice. There are always clear expectations and routines within the session that are communicated in an appropriate way to the child to refer to if they become disengaged. I also look for sensory strategies, including breaks and fidget toys to help regulate the children. Having clear expectations, preparing the session in a way to motivate the student and making the session fun are three ways I make sure that the sessions are successful and promote a love of learning.