Experience Summary
Straight out of college, I began substitute teaching and then tutoring individuals. I specialized in English, reading skills, history, psychology, and counseling. Now, I'm a computer tutor, a technical writer on contract, and gone through countless hours on training for these skills, and am now considering a second career as a teacher for non native speakers, for career and computer coursework, and always for writing skills, particularly technical writing. I wrote a book recently called Job Shark, to help people look for jobs, and I'm always amazed at how intimidated people are by computers and technology.
Teaching Style
Personally, I prefer hands on - lab style workshops - than endless lecturing and note taking. I like to grasp the student's maturity level and aptitude and go from there. All students need individualized attention, but it is also important to have team building skills inherent in the coursework so they learn to both help themselves and others. The first thing is to teach the love of learning, the second is 'how to learn,' and the third thing is the motivation to develop mastery. Most students do not learn how to study, learn how to learn, and if their parents are not educated, they usually never learn these skills.