Qualifications
I am a qualified teacher with experience in teaching languages at two outstanding multicultural secondary schools in London. I have a grade of distinction in the Higher National Diploma in Hotel Management and Tourism (HND), an overseas qualification from the Ministry of Education in Spain. I completed the Award in Education and Training from City & Guilds of London Institute. I completed the Certificate in Education and Training (CTLLS) at Canterbury Christchurch University with excellent feedback on my contributions in the classroom and comments about the tutors of my exceptional work in my Teaching log. I am going to graduate soon as a Teacher of English as a Foreign Language from Cambridge University.
My teaching roles have been in St Catherine's School, a distinguished private school for secondary education. Gumley House Convent School specializes in Languages and has received a full International School Award for languages. During my time at these schools, I have gained a vast amount of knowledge in teaching Spanish up to A-Level, equivalent to level C1 of the CERF the European framework. I have undertaken responsibilities in teaching large classroom groups of students up to twenty-five.
Specific responsibilities and tasks
Achievement and Teaching
During my time at Gumley House Convent School and during the completion of my teaching training I have acquired experience in teaching large groups of students up to twenty-five and I am fully familiar with the English National Curriculum. The Department has always placed trust and confidence in my responsibilities in teaching students. In one observation my mentor commented on my capacity to build good relationships with the students and my wittiness in the classroom. In the final observation, my tutor commented with the heads of the languages department how impressive my lesson was and the high levels of engagement and motivation that students show in the lesson.
I have always been constant in my work at schools, producing resources and in constant communication with teachers and Heads of subjects to discuss pupil progression and explore different assessment strategies that needed to be implemented to support the individual pupil. I have assessed, tracked and monitored students’ progression closely. I have built strong relationships with my learners and used an effective system of sanctions and rewards with troubled teens. I show a strong capacity for classroom management and instructions. Students know what they need to do in an activity and the purpose of doing it with success.
My role also has consisted of helping students to improve their grades by determining areas of the language where they were failing. In my tutoring sessions, I have taught them how to develop exam skills in the four skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. I have worked with small groups of students who have improved their grades and overall marks. I have found out the ways to help them to overcome barriers during the learning process. I have supported students with Special educational needs in different areas of the Spanish and English Language. I have always received excellent feedback about the improvement of my students from other teachers and followed pupils' performance closely. Students who have attended my sessions regularly have improved notably. I have used different strategies to support individual pupils with the latest and more innovative teaching strategies. I have planned my lessons carefully, including all students studying preferences, and I have challenged advanced students by adapting my pace to their language skills. I have contributed to my resources focused on the coursebook themes and specific uses of grammar at different levels. I have taken part in an active life at school, supporting drama and language activities.
During the Award in Education and Training and the Certificate in Education and Training I have developed strong speaking skills during this time preparing students for examinations in GCSE and A levels. I can anticipate the student's needs and how to implement new strategies to improve their skills in the target language. I enjoyed my lesson plan producing support worksheets with chunks, frames from speaking, key expressions, grammar reminders, flashcards with prompts, and different quizzes and strategies. I always set high expectations and underline the goals at the beginning of the lesson. I use extension activities for more advanced students to let them progress further. My sessions have always been student-centred with activities that encourage participation, problem-solving and collaboration. In my sessions, students help peers to answer difficult questions. It has allowed me to monitor the students closely and take notes of their practice. I have reassured students and prepared them for a mock exam day. I have provided them with very detailed feedback fixing errors, adding vocabulary to expand their answers, giving sentence examples, remarking good expressions used and giving guidance on how to improve speaking with an action plan. I have used varied types of exercises and approaches during the speaking practice to develop students' confidence in the language and passion for learning. I have always differentiated my students and levels, used different levels of complexity for the tasks, and adapted the appropriate pace for a group or a student. Constructive feedback and comments on their performance have encouraged students to speak with a positive attitude to the target language. It helped me to let students know where I want them to be. Students must be able to reflect on their work and understand what they need to achieve to aim higher. Celebrating success is as important as highlighting areas for improvement. I challenge and guide students with achievable targets that I have checked and revised. I have always used the school marking code strictly. Students can see from the marking strategy how they can improve their work and what they have done well. I have used official mark schemes and assets of students in speaking conversation. I have used different levels of difficulty in my tasks, starters, reflection, and plenary activities.
I am very artistic, and I taught Drama in English as a Foreign language for two years at a special Primary school in Spain which specializes in foreign languages. I wrote the theatre play which was a success and kids with parents enjoyed it a lot.
Others
I studied the French language at the French Lycée in Madrid for three years. I am an active member of some teaching groups as MFL secondary matters, where I keep myself up to date with the last strategies and tips for teaching. I ran a Spanish club in my free time in the schools and planned the sessions according to the national curriculum themes to reinforce student's knowledge. Students learned Spanish and Latin American culture with games, quizzes, songs, interactive activities and physical activities that involve body movement.
To create a successful learning community, first and foremost the children need to feel safe and secure. Once they feel safe and know that they will be treated fairly, they are ready to learn at their best. I follow ‘Every Child Matters’ framework and have attended inset training on Safeguarding policies at my current school. If I identify that a student has learning difficulties or SEN, I am quick to make an appropriate referral and I ensure that all children in my classroom are treated equally. I have a responsibility as a teacher to provide a safe learning environment for my pupils and gain their trust by being approachable which is very important to me.
Speaking conversation
I have a vast knowledge of teaching conversational skills and I have excellent communication skills in both English and Spanish. I can moderate speaking sessions for groups of up to eight students. My sessions have always been student-centred. I have monitored students closely and took notes of students' reactions to add to my student's profile, essential for tracking students' progression. I use this to give appropriate feedback and evaluate students' ability to solve problems should they arise. I also used my speaking notes to plan effective feedback for parents and create a study plan adapted to students' targets and academic goals. I get students engaged from the beginning of the session with brainstorms, role play, pair-share, collaborative activities, peer-assessment, and self-reflection. I manage time strictly in each task, to make the most of my sessions. Assessing students and grading their performances has given me a wide understanding of the assessment for learning with a focus on speaking skills. In my teaching and training posts, I have been fortunate to work with children and adults from diverse backgrounds and with a wide range of abilities at all key stages. It has been an enjoyable experience to work with students who had English as a second language
I have differentiated students and levels by adapting my approach and tasks differently each time. This is something I love about teaching and speaking. The flexibility for teaching the same content in different ways and the need for adaptation to each group level. I have always tried to expand the student's knowledge by referring to the grammar they have seen in the classroom. I always use high-quality resources which I produce myself such as photo cards, role-play instructions, signs, mind maps, support worksheets, frames, chunks for speaking and flashcards with exam questions and prompts to add variety to my lessons and meet all the preferences. All my students have always assisted in my sessions with a positive attitude in a good mood. I think that engaging in a conversation needs to be enjoyable for students. I try to be very supportive of the exciting journey of learning a new language with stimulating activities, praising good examples, constructive feedback and lots of positive attitudes. I have created 83 Strategies to encourage speaking practice, ideas that I have collected in a booklet from my notes in the classroom and experiences observing students interacting in a conversation.
Interest
I have always had an interest in the process of learning development in children with special needs and challenging behavior. Apart from the INSET courses in my schools to develop my own awareness as well as volunteering in English lessons as a teacher assistant supporting the learning of SEN students. I copied teaching strategies during this role from a senior teacher and enjoyed valuing opinions from my colleagues and positively contributing to new ideas and suggestions so that the support for these students was substantial. When teaching, I appeal to all children’s learning styles, whether they be visual, audio, or kinaesthetic. During this time I learned the importance of using visuals, colors, questioning techniques, exemplifying, and modeling for students. To keep a positive attitude at all times and refocus the student's attention helped me to establish good relationships with the students.
I like to be part of the community and during my time at school, I collaborate with some events and drama productions by preparing the service of the beverage and receiving parents and families at the school presentations. I keep myself healthy with long walks in the park and swimming at the pool. I am a reflective teacher and keep reading articles and teaching books in my free time to be updated and learn new teaching strategies to put into practice and get new ideas that help me to set targets in my teaching practice.
I am passionate about art and drama. At the beginning of my teaching career, I volunteered in a Primary international language school in the role of teacher of Drama in English as a Foreign language. I wanted to create something original with my students that I could adapt to their ideas, thus I wrote a theater presentation which I called Dreams can fly. Currently, I work on a bilingual book for adults and children in both English and Spanish languages.
I am now ready to take on a new and challenging role and I am confident I can make an impact and utilize the many skills I have developed in my teaching practice.
I firmly believe I can make a strong contribution to your students and would really welcome the opportunity to discuss my application with you further.
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Montserrat R.
Tutor, Teacher, Instructor
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