Jacob Sikora

A little about me. I am a 26 year old English teacher from the UK and I have been living and teaching in Spain for 2 years in Ciudad Real, Córdoba and Madrid where I currently reside. In my free time I like surfing, playing football, listening to music and reading as well as hanging out with my friends.

English teacher, Number 16 Madrid

(August 2022- Present) )

Responsibilities

• Following the speaking led Number 16 programme by emphasising corrections on students

• Building a good rapport with my students so that they can enjoy and get the most out of their time on the course.
• Using my energy to motivate the students and make the classes more fun and dynamic. 
• Leading 1 to 1 classes for students of varied levels from A1 to C1 as well as for professionals looking to improve their interview and business vocabulary. 
• Teaching online to classes from different companies improving their general English and focusing on different areas when the students request it. 
• Evaluating students' progress throughout the course and correctly assessing their level at the end of the course. 
• Performing end of course exams and marking students speaking level and written work to assess whether or not they have passed the course. 

(September 2021 - June 2022)

Responsibilities

• Delivering lessons that are clearly structured that enable the students to practise speaking, writing, reading and listening. 
• Using the academy's materials to create lesson plans that enable students to learn, practise and then use new grammar structures and vocabulary.
• Leading FCE classes, helping students prepare and reach the level required to pass the FCE Exams. 
• Leading and adapting conversation classes to account for the different levels and ages within each group. 
• Keeping track of the student progress by setting relevant homework that tested the students comprehension of the work we covered in class, setting and marking exams at the end of each unit and uploading this data onto the continuous assessment page. 
• Completing student evaluations which inform the parents and the students of how they are progressing and giving feedback on what they can do better and what they can do to improve further.
• Making sure that the content of the lesson is as easy to understand as possible, trying to figure out which parts they will have trouble with in particular for eg. unfamiliar vocabulary or false friends that might confuse them.
• Making sure that each student understands before I move on testing each student's understanding by simply asking questions or by providing practice exercises. 
• Keeping the lessons fresh by every now and then putting the books aside and dedicating the lesson to a roleplay session where each student is required to navigate real world scenarios.
• Sharing ideas with colleagues in weekly workshops learning from them and also sharing my ideas and techniques as well. 

(2020 September - December 2021)

Responsibilities

• Devising interesting lesson plans that keep the students engaged whilst also giving them plenty of opportunities to use and therefore improve their English. 
• Providing my classes with a warm and inviting manner that ensures my students feel comfortable and supported in my classes. 
• Maintaining a record of students attendance and grades. 
• Making sure that myself and my students are safe by following all Covid 19 safety procedures and making sure that the classroom is properly sanitised before allowing the next class to enter. 
• Due to the Covid crisis I often had hybrid classes of Zoom students and in classroom students sometimes with little to no warning. This meant I had to work really hard to make sure that both sets of students were fully engaged in the lesson and I did this by making sure that I had all of the resources for my lessons both on my laptop and in the classroom.
• Paying attention to each student and identifying quickly when a student was struggling with a particular exercise or task. Also making sure that I could come up with alternatives whenever necessary in order to adapt to their ability.
• Maintaining control of the classroom, this was most challenging when I taught 8 year old children because I did not share a language with them. In order to maintain control I made sure that their minds were always occupied, this meant being very organised so that by the time an activity had finished there was always another ready. 

(August 2021- September 2021)

Responsibilities

• Performing placement tests and scoring the students level to ensure they are in the correct groups for the remainder of the course. 
• Using the berlitz coursebooks to plan a programme that suits the level and the personalities of the group I was assigned.
• Building a good rapport with my students so that they can enjoy and get the most out of their time on the course.
• Leading 1 to 1 conversation classes with the students
• Guiding them through and helping them create a presentation in English for their final grade.
• Evaluating students' progress throughout the course and correctly assessing their level at the end of the course. 

Education

Tefl.org 

120 hour Tefl course combined: 2-day classroom Sat-Sun + 100-hours online

Grammar course- Complete

2 day classroom days- Complete

Methodology course- Complete

Video observation Course- Complete

Additional 30 hour extensive grammar course. complete 

East Kent College 

(September 2012 – June 2015)

BTEC:

• Level 3 diploma in sports coaching and exercise- distinction-distinction-distinction
• level 2 diploma in gym instructing- pass 

(September 2007- July 2012)

7 GCSEs, grade A-C, including Maths and English