Experience Summary
When I started at the University of Minnesota in 2006, I began tutoring through an on-campus program named America Reads. Their mission is to increase literacy skills in elementary through high school aged youth in the community of the Twin Cities. I have worked with this program for over 3 years and have had experience tutoring kindergarten through third grade in reading and writing skills. I have attended workshops about ESL to help better apply my Spanish Studies major to my job. Due to the experiences I have had in the classroom and with my co-workers and supervisors, I have changed my major from Journalism and Mass Communication to Elementary Education, which I will start in Fall of 2009. I hope to combine my two concentrated areas of study and teach in a Spanish bi-lingual school.
Teaching Style
I believe that my teaching style is more modern that what teachers have used when I was in elementary school. I believe that being energetic in the lessons plays a large role to the response a student will give. It is vital that the tutor shows the student that learning can be fun and it is important as well. Besides energy, I bring compassion and understanding to my lessons. Many of the students I work with are struggling in their classes and get frustrated very easily. I try very hard to impress upon the struggling students that they are also very smart. I am very encouraging, yet push them to reach their goals. It is also key to develop a relationship with the student; find out about their family, interests, dislikes, tell stories. These are all things that can be incorporated into lessons to make them more fun for the child.