Toby Green

My lessons will vary depending on the student's needs, but a basic plan is as follows:

- Introduction of the session's materials and aims
- Silent reading of the primary text
- Feedback from the student on the text's main themes/ difficulties
- A challenge to these difficulties/ tactics for how to overcome them
- Using our new-found understanding of the text to construct a competent analysis

At the end of each session I shall ask the student if any part of the class was particularly helpful, so I can aim to include more of that style of teaching in future lessons. I shall then ask if any part of the class was particularly unhelpful, and I will aim to avoid that style of teaching moving forward.

As a student of Cambridge University I have learnt not only to think critically about a text but also to appreciate its historical and social contexts. Students often find these secondary materials particularly challenging. To alleviate this challenge I will sprinkle secondary material throughout the lessons rather than dumping them into PowerPoint in one big chunk. This will make the learning of such content far more manageable, increasing the likelihood of success as the student will feel less overwhelmed by the material.

I will try to make the lessons as dynamic as possible. Whether that be through watching clips of a play, hearing the poet themselves speak their poem or, using photos/videos to illustrate how characters and themes have been interpreted by other literary critics.

Most of all, I will cater to the individual student. Some people will always dislike poetry, and my job is not about changing that. It is simply, all about encouraging attempts to understand the literature, and working with students to avoid dislike becoming ignorance.