Hello,
My name is John P. and I am a recent graduate from the University of Central Oklahoma with a degree in English, emphasis on Literature and Creative Writing. I have also taken sixteen credit hours of upper level Philosophy courses. I am young, energetic, and fresh out of college ready to help guide and advise the next generation through their difficulties with English and History.
I graduated with a cumulative G.P.A of 3.33 and was on the Dean's Honor Role from 2010-11. I have presented a paper in our Student Symposium and I have assisted in writing a scholarly article about Transformative Learning. I read about one novel every 2-3 days and can assist your student with ANY area of English including grammar, vocabulary, writing skills, reading comprehension, research (for High School students), test prep for the English sections of the ACT and SAT as well as essay writing. I have a simple and straight-forward way of tutoring students in that I get a sense of where the student is struggling and then instead of telling him/her the answer I ask numerous questions forcing the student to come up with the answer on his/her own. Granted, this will not work in all situations, but I am more prone to have the student undergo some critical thinking in order for him/her to see where their struggles are and how to overcome them.
My goal is that none of my students have a 'fear' or 'intimidation' of the English language. Granted, it is tricky at times and can be very frustrating for students to grasp, but I have a simplistic approach to breaking down those inhibitions. For instance, after out tutoring session is done, and on top of all of his/her other material to study, I will normally ask the student to bring back the lyrics to one of their favorite songs. The next week we will may spend a few minutes looking over the rhyme structure, the imagery, the use of figurative language, etc. Now this approach would make no sense for a student struggling with grammar, but this is just an example of how I would actively show the student that English is not a negative force out to frustrate you, but instead is an amazing force to help you communicate and express your ideas and emotions.
I love watching students faces when the invisible barriers in their minds are shattered. I will not accept "I can't" and "I don't know," to me, those are just different ways of saying "I don't want to do this." No student wants to do something they are not comfortable with, and that is why one of my goals as a Tutor is to show the student that there is nothing to fear from the English language, but a world to gain.
Thank you,
John
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