Experience Summary
I am eager to prepare more students for success in their studies. I will encourage students to develop a love for reading and writing.
My experience in tutoring began while I was a high school student. My residence in Japan brought unique opportunities. I gave reading lessons to a first-grader who was a native English speaker. Within three years, he was beating two teens and four adults at Beyond Balderdash—a game that requires reading, writing, and creative thinking. Later, I tutored both a third-grader and a twelfth-grader in English as a Second Language. My mother, who has a master’s degree in Elementary Education, mentored me. I was responsible for my own homeschool studies at that time. By study and daily interaction, I attained conversational fluency in Japanese.
After moving to Florida, I decided to major in English Education. When I did a teaching practicum, I worked with both ends of the spectrum—ninth-grade remedial reading and twelfth-grade Honors English. Within a few weeks, my practicum teacher put me in charge of teaching while her substitute sat and watched.
I had the amazing opportunity to write and edit homeschool curriculum, even before earning my degree. At that job, I refined my writing abilities and learned new approaches to educating middle school students.
I eventually took my degree in English instead of English Ed, but still earned certification to teach English grades 6–12.
Since college, I have tutored four elementary school boys one-on-one, and I had the joy of seeing them progress in knowledge and ability. My favorite part of tutoring is hearing a student say, “I want to come to tutoring,” or “Are we going to do another word puzzle today?”
Teaching Style
I love my students, put them first, and put developing rapport with them as a high priority. I maintain eye contact, smile, and speak respectfully. I make lesson plans in advance; however, I allow students some freedom in choosing the order of activities. When questions come up, I try to lead my students to an answer by asking questions in return. I provide regular testing to determine when they have mastered a concept and are ready to move on. I inspire my students to be confident and creative. Then they are motivated to improve academically.
Here are some examples of my teaching style, taken from my teaching practicum through my college English Education program. My twelfth-grade honors class gave their teacher rave reviews when I substitute taught a lesson on Macbeth. The text was my guide, and I wanted my students to be guided by the text to new discoveries. Later, I led this class in vocabulary study from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with a surprise activity involving dictionaries. I had 100% participation that day. My ninth-grade reading comprehension class grew in their respect for me and for one another while they listened, read aloud, and answered test questions. Sometimes these high school students stumped me with hard questions, but I challenged them to brainstorm possible answers from the context.
I also have done one-on-one tutoring for elementary school students. My kindergarten/first-grade reading students found that I made the work fun when their enthusiasm lagged. I tapped into their artistic abilities, love of stories, eagerness to ask questions, and fascination with cartoon characters. My third-grade math student got not only flashcard practice but also lessons for real-life problems, such as measuring furniture and reading the clock.
Teaching challenges me to keep students’ attention with the acting skills I learned from many years in drama. However, my kindness is never an act.