Bethany joined us as a 2nd Year Psychology Student at the University of Lincoln, with ambitions to train to be a primary teacher on completing university, and hopes of becoming an educational psychologist in the future.
We asked her to share more about her experience tutoring with Team Up:
“I have learnt a huge amount from delivering the Team Up sessions, and the debriefs have helped to develop skills that I can not only apply in the sessions, but also take with me in my future career.”
I was looking for some teaching experience, and I heard about Team Up through a Teach First taster course and thought the whole Team Up ethos sounded brilliant. Team Up allows me to help others and gain beneficial teaching experience at the same time, so I thought I’d apply.
I tutor two Year 4 pupils in English writing, who are both keen to learn but find aspects of English quite difficult. They get very excited at an opportunity to read out loud in sessions and are largely motivated by the prospect of a game of noughts and crosses! The large number of lesson plans provided by Team Up allow for the tutors to tailor the session to the students’ individual needs really effectively, and also considerably reduce the amount of preparation time needed. In addition, the debriefs run by our Programme Managers provide tutors with so much information as to how to make the most of the sessions, including topics such as questioning techniques, behaviour management strategies, and how to increase pupil engagement.
I have really enjoyed seeing the pupils’ confidence increase throughout the weeks. They always come to the sessions with enthusiasm, and even when they don’t feel particularly confident with a topic in the beginning, they are much more confident by the end of the session. I enjoy hearing all their creative writing ideas, and helping them to put these on paper using the skills we have learnt about in the sessions.
“Team Up is a fantastic charity which effectively helps to improve students' maths or English ability, whilst also educating the tutors so that they can best help the pupils.”
I have gained some brilliant teaching experience from tutoring with Team Up. I have also gained confidence in using the students’ baseline assessments to accurately decide on which future topics would be most beneficial for them. The weekly Performance Review Reports have helped me to develop my ability to reflect on the sessions, and think about what I can do to improve each week. This has been a really useful exercise in self-reflection on both the session and my teaching ability.
I would without a doubt recommend the Team Up programme to other volunteers, especially if they are looking to gain teaching experience. The whole Team Up programme is brilliantly organised and there is always plenty of support available.
On behalf of the Team Up team and pupils, we say: Thank you Bethany!