Twenix — A Piece of Cake…
I. LOVE. CAKE. Who doesn’t, right?! Those who have taken this love further and made their own will have realised that exact quantities of very specific ingredients are required each time to get the right results, that perfect rise, that beautiful bounce in texture, the tricky balance between too moist and too crumbly and often takes several attempts to get anything resembling anywhere near a Victoria sponge… Baking is a science. Being a Tweacher with Twenix, however, doesn’t have to be, but you will need some key basic ingredients:
Ingredients;
Sparkling personality (who wouldn’t want to chat with you for 26 minutes?)
Empathy (I’ll put the kettle on, shall I?)
Curiosity (think nosy neighbour, we all know one … add at any stage)
Love of a good conversation
Patience (sometimes of a saint 😇)
Spontaneity (let’s face it, things don’t always go according to plan)
Humour (to taste)
Creativity (how much do you really know about Scrums and Sprints…🤔)
Method;
- First impressions count — shine bright like a diamond and greet the student warmly like an old friend you haven’t seen for a looooooooong time but are soooo happy to see. Add some of that sparkling personality to build rapport with them, it has been a while after all.
- Often students have had a busy day and need a moment to exhale — let them. Workload is too much — we get it, endless meetings — ooft, sacre bleu, tight deadlines — mama mia , a difficult client — por favor, nooooo.
- Now to get down to business, find out what the student knows, get curious — what did they learn in the last lesson? Do they have any doubts about key vocabulary?
- Continue this curiosity into the beefy part — the actual convo — where you will really get to know your student (and their strengths and weaknesses language-wise). Tease everything they know from them through being naturally interested in what they have to say (which is sometimes more than you think). Some will require more curiosity from you than others so apply accordingly, spoonful at a time until you get the balance right and the student starts to expand all on their own.
- Right, this is another ingredient that you need to add throughout the 26 minutes. Whether the student is struggling to express themselves or they regularly go off topic, it’s our job to calmly and patiently give them the space and guidance they need, prompting and feeding in language when needed.
- But what if I don’t know anything about the topic, I hear you cry… Fear not — get creative, do some quick research before class or if there is no time, use the answers to encourage students to elaborate their responses and allow them to think about something they maybe hadn’t considered before by feeding in these alternative ideas.
- Student doesn’t know anything about the topic either?? Great! Be spontaneous and learn together — use the content and hypothesise… What if….? What would you do if…? Do you think X would be a good/bad idea?
- OK, you’re almost there, just the finishing touches to go… Give feedback, give quick wins, some takeaways so they can enjoy the delights of your labour aaaaand…..
- Garnish with humour as appropriate (indeed, do so throughout the lesson)
Notes: This is just a quick insight into how a typical lesson goes for me. Each student is different so will need a little bit more or a little bit less of the different ingredients depending on their personality, mood and learning style. Each lesson is different, even if you teach the same lesson to different students or the same student different lessons. Above all, that’s what’s great about teaching at Twenix — sure, the flexible timetable is great, the ability to take classes at the last minute to help out a colleague (and earn a wee bit extra at the same time) — wonderful, or transfer classes last minute if such a need arises — fantastic, but the real satisfaction — variety is the spice of life. I also love a cliche if you haven’t guessed by now.