I was eight years old when a little classmate, who was a neighbor, was struggling with learning to read. I volunteered to help her, and as I began working with her, both of us became so excited over the progress she was making. Even our teacher noticed! It was at that moment--when I realized that I not only helped her improve her reading but also strengthened both of our self-esteems, that I decided I wanted to be a teacher and do it over and over! Watching her progress brought me such...
I was eight years old when a little classmate, who was a neighbor, was struggling with learning to read. I volunteered to help her, and as I began working with her, both of us became so excited over the progress she was making. Even our teacher noticed! It was at that moment--when I realized that I not only helped her improve her reading but also strengthened both of our self-esteems, that I decided I wanted to be a teacher and do it over and over! Watching her progress brought me such joy!
I have had many years of experience teaching and tutoring in all aspects of Language arts. I have taught in high school and middle school, grades 6-12; I have not only taught English in a local parochial school grades 6-8, but at that school, I was the entire English/Language Arts Department, teaching the same students for three consecutive years; as a result, many qualified for Advanced Placement Language Arts classes in both public and private high schools For three years, I was an adjunct Professor of Basic Freshman Composition at a local university, and I tutored for three years at Sylvan Learning Center. Currently, I teach sixth grade Religious Education at my church.
All of my classes, everywhere, consisted of diverse students with different learning styles and abilities. I was careful to observe which students were struggling and needed extra help. If struggling students were unable to meet me after school for extra help, I would arrange, when possible, to meet them either during one of my planning periods or at a time mutually agreeable to both of us. My love for the English language and the ways in which poets use imagery, storytellers weave plots, vocabulary use is precise, and reading becomes a joy are all part of what I want desperately to impart to my students. My greatest joy is watching students arrive at that "A-Ha!" moment when, whatever they are struggling to learn--vocabulary, reading comprehension, grammar, or writing suddenly clicks, and they "get it!"
