Experience Summary
While having no actual formal teaching experience I find that I am always finding teaching opportunities in everything I do. At Brigham Young University I started out in the Elementary Education Major and then switched to Sociology because I found it fascinating. however, I still focused my classes on education and cultural studies subjects. Due to life circumstances I left college in 2003, two G.E. classes short of my degree. This year I have worked to finish these courses and will have my degree in July 2009.
During college I wanted opportunities to help others learn and so I became a mentor and was assigned to teenagers that were struggling in school. They needed a friend, a mentor and a tutor all rolled into one and i was able to help them get back on track. I have also had various other volunteer experiences where I am able to work with ESL learners and currently I have weekly opportunities to teach bilingual children. I myself have learned to speak Spanish fluently and love helping others learn English or Spanish. I know just how difficult and frustrating it can be. I have not tutored actively in the past 8 years but I would like to begin again. I am capable of tutoring ESL students, Spanish learners, or any subject on an elementary level. I am also a bit of a History enthusiast and am constantly reading up on US and world history.
Teaching Style
I come from a family of educators. Whether as students, teachers, trainers, teachers of teachers, or parents, we all see ourselves as educators first and foremost. Personally,my love of teaching came from my love of learning. I have always found the experience of learning to be exhilarating and life enriching. I have discovered that the same joy can be found in helping others figure this out as well. Often the joy of learning has been taken away from children and they have learned to doubt their abilities. I always try to find the way to get through to the individual child I am working with to help them see their abilities and get to that, "I see it now!" moment. I like to teach study tips and organization skills that help them retain the information and their homework. One of my favorite techniques is having the student become the teacher. While helping students succeed scholastically I also like to look for ways that this information can help them in the real world and help them to see how knowledge can enrich their lives in so many ways.