I am an experienced teacher and tutor, and I am very excited to begin helping people learn again.
While in college, I was involved in a number of tutoring experiences. For six months, I tutored a third grader at the local elementary school who had recently immigrated from Mexico. I helped him understand his class work as well as training him in English. I also tutored a fellow student in lower-level Spanish classes for a period of six months. I created a personalized strategy for learning Spanish that worked with his own personality and style to enable him to pass his classes adequately. I also took part in a training seminar with the Community Action Agency to become a certified ESL and ABE instructor. Following this certification, I tutored a recently released convict for a period of four months who was studying to earn his GED. I tailored math and English lessons to his personal goals and abilities, creating weekly lessons, exercises and homework.
During the summer before my final year at college, I interned for three months with the International Rescue Committee in Los Angeles. I worked individually with recently arrived refugees to develop resumes and cover letters for finding work in the area. I also created and led a variety of workshops where clients could learn about topics ranging from workplace vocabulary and interview questions to professional social behavior.
For the past year, I taught English in Seoul, Korea. I taught English to students from age 4-12 using a variety of curriculums. I worked closely with a Korean co-teacher for each class to ensure teaching techniques match the particular students in question. During the first half of the day, I taught kindergarten, which covered a range of subjects all taught in English. In the second half of the day, I taught after-school classes to elementary students, who were of a wide range of English levels. Some had only recently started studying English while others had been studying for years. For each class I determined how the students function and what manner of teaching will most grab their interest.
This is something I seek to do in all of my teaching experiences. I believe that everyone possesses the ability to achieve what they want in school. It is discovering how to do this that is difficult. As a tutor, I hope to help illuminate that path for the student. Though I cannot make them work harder at something they have no interest in, I can show them why a topic is interesting and how they can understand it if they want to. I seek out what the student is interested in and connect it to the topic we are studying. I share with them why I love a subject or how people are changing the world with a certain field of study. Once the student becomes interested, I then try to put the subject into terms the student can understand. I break down the ideas into smaller and smaller parts until it feels manageable to the student. Then we slowly add the pieces together until the subject is properly understood.
Every student is different. Everyone has their own reasons for wanting a tutor. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for learning, so as a teacher I do my best to consider the personality, interests, and needs of each student as I create a plan to help them learn. I try to fit lessons into what they are already familiar with, so that they have a frame of reference for what they are learning. I try to match the subject matter to issues they are already interested in, so that they want to study more for themselves instead of studying because someone else is making them. I seek to open their eyes to the world and the possibilities it holds for those who would find them. I hope to empower them to develop the skills and interests that will lead them to a successful and fulfilling life.
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