Experience Summary
After deciding I wanted to be a teacher, I did everything I could to gain more experience. I started tutoring in High School. I tutored both high school students and elementary school students. When I reached college and declared my major, I also continued to tutor elementary school students. I have tutored in reading, writing, math and Spanish through all grade levels. I have also worked intensely with students with special needs, including autism and dyslexia. I have found that dedication, encouragement and patience are invaluable traits to helping a student succeed or believe in themselves.
Teaching Style
I believe good teaching is about knowing your students and what kind of learners they are. Learners are people who obtain and retain knowledge from a variety of sources. Some kinds of knowledge will be retained more than others and some people will be able to retain knowledge differently. What helps children to retain and gain knowledge for life is their interest in the subject matter. A genuine interest in the topics of instruction and having them taught in meaningful ways will feed into a child’s intrinsic motivation to learn the matter. By being motivated to learn, through this kind of instruction children will not only be excited to learn but they will also learn so many valuable skills. Learners not only come in many shapes and sizes, but they also learn in many different ways. Some learn best from hearing material taught orally; others will learn the matter best by doing hands-on experiments. Students come from all different walks of life and bring very different learning styles with them. Therefore, we as teachers need to take into account these different cultures, interests and learning styles and incorporate them into the curriculum in order to reach every learner in the classroom. So as a rule, I remain flexible and open to trying new things until I find what works best for my learners to help them succeed.