Experience Summary
I have extensive preparation and training that will allow me to succeed as an English tutor. I am a licensed substitute teacher in the state of Indiana. I have been actively teaching with Noblesville Schools (Noblesville, IN) since October of 2006. I have gained additional teaching experience as a Bible study teacher of two years. As such I lecture for about an hour and a half most Sunday afternoons. Additionally, I spent three years as a shift manager in food service where I was responsible for training new employees. I always received positive feedback from my trainees.
I have specific expertise in the area of English and language arts. My undergraduate degree is in journalism but I also took and excelled at courses in composition, creative writing, and writing for broadcast. I learned from Strunk and White's 'Elements of Style' while also mastering AP Style. As a graduate student I wrote highly academic research papers according to Chicago Turabian style guidelines.
I am also an evaluator for CTB-McGraw Hill where I hand-score standardized achievement tests and assessments - for example ISTEP in Indiana and FCAT in Florida. I specialize in English, Language Arts, and Writing, and I do have experience working with English as a Second Language.
I am a published author, including work done as a sports writer for a well-known college basketball website. I have also done editing work for a national author who has penned two 'New York Time's' best sellers. This applicant was also the Editor and Chief Contributor at a small research website where we wrote original articles and re-printed the work of notable teachers and authors from around the country. The site no longer exists.
Finally I have been seriously studying Português for about a year. Naturally, this endeavor has forced me to brush up on some of the intricacies of English grammar.
Teaching Style
I would characterize my teaching style as relationally oriented. I want the student to know that I care about him or her. I may not articulate as much, but I want the student to see that I am giving my time to serve their needs and not my own. Loosely speaking, I am also a proponent of multiple intelligences. The creative teacher can usually identify a way to relate material and content using a methodology that connects. My teaching style is based in facts. I philosophically reject radical post-modernity which posits that truth is a moving target. The student does not have the right to tell me that 1+1 = 3 because 1+1 = 2. I believe excellent teaching is rather like music or cooking – part art, part science. You don't get a beautiful wedding cake or a stunning symphony without a good measure of both.