Gwenette M.

• 3 Students
• 11 Classes
• 35 /Hr

Teaching is and has been a passion for me from a very young age. As a student , I volunteered to help those who needed that push , that guidance to help them reveal their potential. This was rich experience for me even before I formally entered the teaching field. To my advantage , I loved Maths and so I steered my education in the direction of a Maths teacher. My diverse exposure to teaching is an asset to any organisation. I taught as a Maths teacher in an English medium school in Goa, run by Apostolic Catholic nuns, who instilled in the students strong values and helped them discover themselves so that they could give the very best of themselves. This was done through activities that were designed for the year , that help them discover their strengths , gave them an opportunity to participate in different activities and motivated them through a reward system for excellence always keeping the bar high. I was actively involved in all activities that help my students build themselves, whether it was a school production, or a festival day, Maths day , Science day we worked as a team to bring out the very best for our pupils. Pastoral care always played an important role, looking at those signs, giving that guidance, being there to support and encourage them during their ups and downs. As my husband was in the UK, I then joined him and was eager to get back into teaching. They were a few set backs initially, that I overcame of a period of time. I must be brutally honest, that I struggled with behaviour , found the systems very different, but never gave up. I was at the lowest point in my career , I bounced back, thanks to so many who supported me on this journey. I read, I observed, I practiced, I worked hard on being consistent and reaped the fruits in a couple of years. I am proud of his journey as it got me back to teaching, helping students learn Maths, breaking down Maths using CPA( Concrete Pictorial Approach) and bar modelling approach where applicable, which I borrowed from Singapore. I was lucky to also have the opportunity to tutor students in America which exposed me to the styles of teaching there, also the interaction with the teachers, parents and the students were all an asset to enriching my teaching experience. It exposed to new ways of marking, new ways of feedback besides the textbooks helping me to explore the curriculum and the ways of going about it. Here in the UK , I was fortunate to be on the pilot programme for ECF run by Teach First, I thought it was fantastic at all levels, it reinforced so many of the strategies I learnt through reading books like Teach like a Champion by Doug Lemov, Why don't students like school by Daniel Willingham or the coaching models that I looked it all is brought together so well that it made me a stronger teacher. Presently I am onboard on Leadership Journey programme which has given me a lot of insights into looking deeper and empowered me with skills to enhance those I am working with in a more directed manner. As a teacher, I build on concepts gradually , providing diversified practice, keeping misconceptions in mind, hoping to have those healthy conversations in the classroom to help us address mistakes in the classroom as a learning process to mastering our objectives. Retrieval strategies are the key to freeing space in our working memory and building strong long term memory so those connections come easier , analysing with a strong content knowledge is more powerful when a student is attempting a deeper question in a topic. Frequent use of diagnostic questions that clear misconceptions also strengthens long term memory, continuous testing , linking topics, encouraging Maths class talk, class thinking time , to organise thoughts , marking work, being a detective marker to find errors all these contribute to building my pupils confidence besides giving stars, stickers ... to motivate them and help them keep pushing thus gaining confidence in the process. My rich experiences, my resilience and my desire to make a difference will be an asset to your institution who is striving to make a difference in the life of every child, thus having responsible global citizens who feel confident about themselves and who go out and make a difference.