I retired from 45 years of working in industry in 2004. My work included aerospace technologies, cryptographic systems, medical electronics, computer manufacturing, r&d, and automotive electronics manufacturing. During the past 6 years I have been a substitute teacher for the Levy County School system; GED and adult high school teacher for Central Florida College; Siatech High School and the Job Corps in Gainesville. I am currently a part time teacher for the Job Corps.
Over the years in industry I have always been called upon to teach some aspect of the job. It may have been troubleshooting, computer programming, robot operations, or failure analysis, but it always was with teens and young adults. I put my failure analysis skills to work at the Job Corps and Siatech High School, figuring out what each student's abilities were, and then used those to build on the deficiencies. When I had 37 students in 6 classes, I had 37 individual lesson plans and progress charts: one for each.
I have a no nonsense approach to teaching, if the student is there to learn, that's what they do, I don't cut them any slack. But I do spend as much time as needed on any particular point, so that they will understand what they are doing. I have tremendous patience and will go over the same material a dozen times, in different ways, so that the student will grasp the information.
As an example, I will give a GED student an essay writing prompt, and expect an essay in 45 minutes. I will grade it, and give it back to them 5 or 6 times until they get it perfect. Then I will give them another topic, using their final essay as a baseline. When I send a student to take any GED test, and they give it their best effort they will pass. I will not let a student test until they are ready. They have had enough failures in their lives, and don't need to be discouraged.
I have dealt with very difficult students, from all cultures and ethinicities. In my early years I adopted two older mixed race children, and had some 20 foster kids. So I am familiar with all the types of problems they have and know all the "cards" that can be played. I don't play games.
Over the years I have found that reading is the biggest handicap that kids have: hardly anyone reads a book or magazine any more. If it's not on TV or the Internet, they are at a loss. So, I stress reading, which also improves understanding word problems in math.
I have my own copies of practice GED tests and TABE 7&8, which I use in evaluating student capabilities. These tools allow me to customize a lesson plan for whatever the student needs.
My hobbies are varied,besides gardening, I am the leading expert on WWI US Army Ballooning. I have written a book about it, and lecture all over the US on the subject.
I would be more than glad to speak with someone about what sort of tutor you need.
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