Experience Summary
I started Bucknell as an Education Major, and then switched to English Literature. I spent one semester as a teaching assistant, and worked as a student literary journal editor. I won two poetry prizes, one given by my student peers, and one by the English faculty. Post-college I entered law school at Tulane. I practiced law for 20 some years. In those years I taught CLE classes for attorneys, as well as in-house sessions for employees of a firm for whom I was General Counsel. After Katrina my legal career was greatly attenuated, and I supplemented my income by tutoring LSAT preparation, and by writing and editing for an SEO company. I am adept at standardized test taking, scoring in the 98th percentile on the LSAT. Due to the economic climate in New Orleans, I moved to California in December of 2008, and am currently working as a substitute teacher.
Teaching Style
Having been fortunate enough to have a number of extremely high-caliber teachers, I have learned that in order to teach one must be willing to learn; to learn not just the curriculum to be taught, but to learn about, and from, the pupil. From the 5th grade level all the way up through degreed professionals, I have made it a point to be a student of my students; to engage them in a manner that shows that I understand and care about their needs, and to help them feel that they are an integral part of their own learning process, as well as mine. Each day there is an opportunity to impart knowledge, and to garner it. I also find that a strong sense of humor and humility goes a long way in making the process of education personal. The goal is never separate from the individual.