Thank you for taking the time to view my profile. I am a great teacher with an undergraduate degree in Social Sciences and Languages and a Masters degree in Business-MBA.
Why do I love teaching?
Actually, I am passionate about teaching. I love to impart knowledge. I believe in learning and development and I see where learning and development have opened many doors for me.
I love to teach languages. With regards to English, I love to see English well spoken and written. Spelling, grammatical and syntactical errors scream at me from people’s writing. On a daily basis, I see a lack of punctuation and entire paragraphs being written as one sentence. I also see homophones being used incorrectly and I would love to be in a position to explain the differences between these similar sounding words. With this era of text messaging, instant messaging and abbreviating, writing is becoming a lost art.
With regards to Spanish, I teach Castillian Spanish (and not one of the many home-grown versions). In teaching a language it is important to teach not only the pronunciation and the vocabulary but also the grammar, translation, tenses, conjugation, the differences with the irregular verbs and the polite and impolite commands. In other words, there can be no shortcuts in achieving proficiency in a language.
I like to teach arithmetic and I love to challenge students to solve problems mentally instead of reaching for a calculator. One example is calculating percentages. It is so easy to calculate ten percent and then add to or subtract from that in order to get five percent or fifteen percent. Another example is decimal places and moving the decimal one place over based on whether we are calculating by ten or by one hundred.
What levels have I taught?
I have taught at elementary, high school and college levels.
I also teach Business and Management subjects at the college level and I challenge students to think about an assignment and what they understand from it even before they start to prepare an answer. So many times students are focused on meeting the submission deadline that they are not even answering the question or thinking through all phases of the question and addressing each one. With regard to language skills and grammar; I find that a lot of students tend to ramble and make grammatical errors in their responses.
I have proofread and edited several papers including doctoral dissertations and thesis proposls.
Methods & Techniques
My tutoring method and technique involves doing an assessment of the students’ skills and competencies. I tailor lessons for individual students based on their need and level of proficiency. I prefer direct one-on-one contact because many persons do not learn in a group setting. Also, a group setting inhibits a student from opening up and admitting their shortcomings. I meet with the student and try to determine their strengths and weaknesses/development gaps. I try to determine why they think they need a tutor in the first place so I zero in on the identified needs. I review old workbooks and exercises done at school and then we arrive at an agreement as to what is needed.
I also prepare a Learning Plan of what the student will be learning and the estimated time it will take for us to cover each topic and this is particularly important to the parents (in the case of elementary and high school students).
There is usually an assignment (homework) after each class, so students are expected to practice what they have been taught. For each subsequent class the first half hour will be spent reviewing and discussing the home work. Because of this, some class times might be one-and-a-half hours duration. I sometimes use my own material for teaching.
One important ingredient is motivation, I always encourage the students that they CAN ACHIEVE ANYTHING AND WHERE THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY.
I also encourage students to develop good study habits and to plan and organize their time and their work. I think organizational skills- including study skills- is an important aspect in a student's life.
Teaching Experience
My teaching experience is varied. I have taught English and Spanish at the High School level. I have taught English, Management and Business Subjects at the College level. I have also taught elementary Maths, English, Reading and fundamentals of good writing. I have worked as an adjunct lecturer at the University of the West Indies both in Jamaica and Barbados. I have done private tutoring in Miami to elementary and high school kids. I am very patient with my students and sometimes use aids to make the learning experience a pleasant and interesting one.
At my office, I informally tutor colleagues in Business subjects – Marketing, Management Theory, Business Ethics, and Business Writing. These are co-workers pursuing on-line degree programs or attending evening school. They come to me for assistance and guidance and I always help them free of cost.
I am presently serving as volunteer Writing Coach with Posse Atlanta. This is a program where volunteers are enlisted through the Firm’s community outreach program. Volunteers assist youngsters to make the academic transition to college by developing their writing and language skills.
I guess I was born to teach; my mother was also a teacher.
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