Experience Summary
I began tutoring when I was an undergraduate at the Univ. of Maryland, College Park. I joined an outreach club called Beyond these Walls and through this I was a volunteer ESL tutor in Langley Park, MD. I tutored primarily Spanish-speaking adults in English grammar and conversation. This was a very important experience that helped me to learn how to work with students in an efficient and respectible manner. It was also rewarding to serve my community simultaneously.
After receiving a B.S. in Biological Sciences, I tutored an undergraduate student in organic chemistry. She, too, is a Biology Major and she struggles in the same areas that I once had difficulty in and now have better mastered those areas. I helped her to learn the material, showed her how to study more efficiently, and I also quizzed her to make sure she could apply the information.
Teaching Style
My teaching style is modified for each student and their specific needs. When I was a volunteer ESL tutor, lessons were more structured and so I had to follow a fairly specific lesson plan. I would give a brief class lesson (of grammar/conversation) and give many examples on the blackboard. I would try to involve all students by encouraging questions and also asking them questions. I would go around and make sure they could properly complete exercises and I would challenge them with an application of the lesson.
For my organic chemistry student, the tutoring was more problem-based. She would ask for help on specific questions/materials she would have issues with. I would go back and explain/draw the problem step by step and then ask her to repeat it. Finally, I would give her extra problems to be sure she could apply the information in a more difficult context.