Information About Muireann - Claremorris tutor

Personal Description:

I am currently completing my PME in Galway and offering Spanish grinds to Junior and Leaving Certificate students. I have lived in Spain for three years giving me invaluable experience with the language both inside and outside the classroom setting, giving me a great insight into how Spanish is spoken in a real life context. I adore this language and nothing fulfills me more than helping my students achieve their goals on their Spanish learning journey!

Tutoring Experience:

I worked in the Spanish educational system for three years and now I have returned to Ireland with a broader perspective of how languages need to be taught and what the Irish education system lacks in terms of building fluency in its language learners. I take a context based approach to vocabulary and grammar, which allows my students to retain more of the target language which in turn boosts their confidence and excelerates their path to proficiency, unlike the traditional approach of rote memorization which is severly anxiety inducing for students.
I have extensive knowledge and experience of the of the curriculum and areas in which students consistently lose marks/need improvement.

Approach to Grinds:

As I have spent three years living and working in Spain, I like to implement colloquial expressions and encourage students to communicate in a natural way and stop directly translating from English.
I avoid rote learning and focus on students being able to communicate in Spanish. Students who are able to communicate using clear, simple Spanish tend to do better than those who can only communicate/express themselves within the topics/questions they have learned off.

For Senior Cycle, I focus on opinion pieces, diary entries, note, reading comprehension, oral and aural. I use a range of different resources and techniques depending on a student’s strengths and weaknesses.