Experience Summary
I have a refined ability to interpret and to write about the best writers and critics in the English language. I have also learned to express my understanding to tough, cynical and easily distracted teenagers, as well as to more motivated and capable students. I have worked at GoodWill-Hinckley, where for more than five years I taught behavioral and social skills to teenagers. I have also worked for many years as both staff and as a supervisor in homes for the developmentally disabled, where I have been responsible for training new staff. In the CADD Certificate program at Kennebec Valley Community College (where I earned high honors) I worked as an algebra tutor to adults.
Teaching Style
I am a very patient listener and think that I empathize well with everyone. While student teaching I learned to pay attention to all of the students in a very diverse student body. I chose texts from a variety of backgrounds- the multicultural approach was both ideal and necessary in that setting. I then emphasized the similarities between the texts and the need for standardization in language use. One method which succeeded was my attempt to improve the students' vocabularies by breaking words into their most basic components; they learned to define words which they might not otherwise have recognized. As in the study of math, the key to studying language is to simplify.