I am a former High School English and history teacher, who stayed home to raise my children for the past nine years. I have a Masters degree from University of Connecticut, and I have tutored students in S.A.T. prep, American, European and African history and have helped with English papers on Shakespeare, Steinbeck and other literature. Because I love history and English, I enjoy guiding students who are stuck on a project or need help understanding complicated subjects.
I appreciate helping students see the big picture because it aids them in understanding the supporting details, language and facts and helps them construct their own mastery of the topic, whether it is Of Mice and Men or the nuances of colonialism.
My first task is always to take the measure of the student and to understand his or her learning style. One of the things I enjoy about tutoring is the ability to tailor learning to the individual and to shift gears if a particular method is no longer working. Often it is as simple as helping students organize their own thoughts, for example, by creating a character tree for a novel so they can easily re-orient themselves to characters as they re-appear throughout a book.
My main goal is to use my passion for my subject to help guide students to a thorough understanding of what they need to know and why it is important. I often use modern day parallels to help students understand history, or push them to wonder why a place as far away as China plays such an important role in our everyday life and the government of our country.
There is nothing more satisfying for me than taking a frustrated and discouraged student and showing him or her how to succeed.
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