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Going out and meeting potential customers
We've printed flyers! We've printed business cards! We're so excited!
As I walk along the road (ducking the showers and enjoying the intermittent sunshine), I consider what has brought me to this point. I've loved every bit of my teaching experience, from teaching adults (ESOL, Numeracy, Literacy, and GCSE Maths) all the way through to the days when I helped out in preschool. Most recently, during the pandemic, I was teaching secondary maths via a computer - my window onto technology. My knowledge of software soared as I built my skills up in a hurry!
But there were moments of introspection during Lockdown, and that was when I understood my future. The best teaching moments I ever had were during small-group sessions. When one of my less-confident students showed himself able to pick up the lesson and developed new skills. When another told me that he was unable to tell any other teacher that he 'didn't get it' but he was willing to ask me for help. When a third told me he had finally learnt the seven times table! When a fourth student started building on skills that her class would not learn for another year! Individuals in a group get focussed help; in the classroom, they need to follow a planned curriculum at somebody else's speed.
Children I have helped have ranged from those with emotional issues and behavioural disorders, to those with autistic tendencies, to children who are bored in lessons because 'it's too easy' and they finish quickly, or don't start because there is no challenge. I can challenge at the appropriate level for each child. Each child has an appropriate, individualised, personally tailored lesson. I have the freedom to help students develop the areas they find a challenge. Perfect for them, and perfect for me. This is what I want to do!
If I find myself walking around in your street, I look forward to meeting you!
