Experience Summary
I am a recent college graduate who plans to attend medical school at some point in the future. In completing my pre-medicine requirements, I successfully completed a large number of science courses. I am also interested in writing and editing and I often assisted younger students with their papers throughout college. During the spring semester of 2006 and 2007, I was a teaching assistant for the chemistry department at St. Olaf College. My duties included setting up laboratory experiments, preparing to teach concepts relevant to those experiments, assisting students with questions, and grading their work.
Teaching Style
I have realized that the best test of whether you understand something is to be able to teach it successfully to another person. Though being prepared is not a direct part of the tutor-student interaction, it is absolutely necessary for the tutor to be prepared far beyond the basic level. My teaching style tends to rely heavily on humor and I really try to build a relationship with students that is fun for both parties. Particularly in a tutoring capacity, where interaction is one-on-one, I believe a fun working relationship between tutor and student is imporant. I also tend to be very patient in my explainations and try to creatively explain concepts in different ways to match different learning styles.