Tutor Helps Students Develop Their Unique Learning Styles

Loretta W.

ACT Reading

I've had years of experience in tutoring students who were preparing for standardized tests. I studied the ACT, and met WyzAnt's requirements for the preparation of students for it. . rs of

ADHD

Since earning my B.A. degree in elementary and special education, and later my M.Ed. in elementary education, I have continued to read and study in various areas of education for exceptional children and youth. I have a small collection of professional special education books in my personal library which contain long sections on ADD and ADHD -- Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. I keep up to date by reading articles in professional education journals, especially in connection with the needs of any students I'm presently tutoring. I worked for seven years in a residential facility where many special needs children and teenagers were students, including many who were on medication for ADD and ADHD. I taught elementary-age students in a classroom, and later became a full-time one-on-one tutor for high school students, helping them study for and obtain their GED high school diplomas. I took several in-service courses on ADD and ADHD and related topics, such as behavior management. The remainder of my years as a classroom teacher were spent teaching in small church-related schools (Episcopal and Lutheran), where each class would include one, two, or more students who had been diagnosed with ADD and ADHD. During my time as a classroom teacher, and after retirement, I have also worked as a one-on-one tutor. I find that individual tutoring is an effective way of working with students who have ADD and ADHD. I like to work in close cooperation with the student's parents, following the educational recommendations they share with me.

Bible Studies

I received a Master of Arts in Religion (MAR) degree at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, Ambridge, Pennsylvania (now named Trinity School for Ministry.) The MAR,an academic equivalent of the M.Div. degree, is offered at that school for candidates who are not studying for the ordained ministry. I completed and passed several courses in Old and New Testament. TESM was on the pass-fail system, but I did well in Bible courses. I also passed a separate, required exam in basic Biblical knowledge. My studies for my B.A. at Florida State University included a course in Biblical literature, for which I received an A. My Biblical study has been ongoing for most of my life, I have taught Christian education, which is mostly Bible study, in both churches and day schools. I have designed and taught courses for numerous Sunday schools and vacation Bible schools. I taught elementary and middle school religious education at: Bethany School, Glendale, Ohio; the former St. Simon's School (upper elementary only), Lincoln Heights, Ohio; St. Andrew's Priory, Honolulu, Hawaii; Holy Family School, McKinney, TX; St. John's Episcopal School, Homestead, FL (elementary only), and Guardian Shepherd Lutheran School (elementary only, now renamed and under other management, but still on the grounds of St. James' Lutheran Church, Coral Gables, FL. I helped a high school girl with her religion homework from her Roman Catholic parochial school, and did Bible study with an evangelical Protestant girl whose mother had asked me to help with her home-schooling. In all cases I taught the core Biblical knowledge that all traditional Christians have in common. This was the policy in the Episcopal schools and the Lutheran school where I taught; all had students from various religious backgrounds. I believe I have the qualifications and personal convictions to tutor students from any denomination that has a traditional Christian view of Holy Scripture. My tutoring would be in keeping with the parents' and the students' wishes and in

Elementary (K-6th)

EDUCATION Elementary education is my main lifetime profession. I have two university degrees in this field: a B.A. in Elementary and Special Education from Florida State University, and an M.Ed. in Elementary Education from the University of Hawaii. I've taken post-graduate courses at the University of Miami (Florida) and Miami University (Oxford, Ohio). I've taken numerous in-service classes, and have done a great deal of professional reading on my own, especially for the purpose of better meeting the particular needs of my students. CERTIFICATION I received a professional State of Florida elementary teacher's certificate soon after graduating from FSU, but moved to Ohio before it was due for renewal. I taught in Ohio for several years, working up through various levels of certification, and finally receiving my Permanent (lifetime) Professional Elementary certificate, which is still valid. All my subsequent teaching has been in states which accepted my Ohio certificate for teaching in private schools. CLASSROOM TEACHING AND TUTORING I was a classroom teacher for more than twenty-five years. Over time, I taught all the grades, K - 5, full time, and also taught some 6th grade subjects. I taught religious education in 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. I did some supervisory and administrative work -- always working as a classroom teacher at the same time. At one school I did after-school tutoring with students who needed extra help, and the following summer I wrote and received a diocesan grant to open a tutoring center at that school. While teaching at another school, I worked in a large tutoring center after school and on Saturdays. After I retired, I ran an ad and tutored on my own for about two years, then, for the following three years worked for an in-home tutoring service. TEACHING STYLE When I taught in classrooms, I worked with the smallest groups possible and individualized my teaching as much as I could. Especially with the skill subjects, I find tutoring to be the ideal teaching situation. I begi

Elementary Math

I've successfully taught and tutored math to students in every grade from pre-K through 6, including students who have gone beyond sixth grade skill level. While helping students keep up with their daily assignments, I also help them review and get extra practice in any concepts and skills in which they are not yet fully confident. I vary my teaching methods according to an individual student's particular learning styles.

Elementary Science

During my years as an elementary classroom teacher, my students and I not only learned from books and the computer, but we had ongoing hands-on projects and cared for a variety of plants and classroom pets. As a tutor I've used the knowledge I gained in the classroom. I help my students write assignments that they're proud to hand in, prepare well for tests, and plan interesting class projects and science fair demonstrations. A major goal is to help the students develop an enthusiasm about science that will lead to further accomplishments and a lifelong interest.

English

English language is my specialty. I have always had very high ratings on the essays I have written, including one that was part of a major university's entrance exam; my score was among the top eight. I have taught essay-writing in classrooms and to individual students, and tutored many who were preparing for college-level exams with essay sections.

GED

I'm a retired teacher with a Master's and a Bachelor's degree in Education. My studies included all academic levels. When I worked in a residential facility, my supervisor selected me to teach teenage and young adult students who were unable to attend regular schools. Most of the teaching was done by one-on-one tutoring. All twenty or so students passed their exams and received their high school diplomas. Since that time, I have helped numerous private students prepare for the GED exam, some of them during the time I have tutored for Wyzant.

Grammar

I'm a retired teacher who enjoyed more than thirty-five years of successful teaching of children, teens, and adults, in the classroom and as a tutor to individual students of all ages. I have done well in several academic areas, but English language is the one in which I have excelled the most beginning with my own school years. I tested in the top 1% of entering university students on the exam, and was one of only eight students exempted from both semesters of freshman English. The many students I have helped with English test preparation have also done well. l

Phonics

I consider phonics to be important to the development of skill in reading and spelling, and I teach it at every level from pre-kindergarten through upper elementary -- and sometimes beyond. Phonics can be taught as a separate subject or in combination with the learning of sight words,sentence- and paragraph-reading and spelling. I tailor my tutoring to the individual student's aptitudes and learning styles. Since English,unlike some other major tongues, comes from several languages and is not completely phonetic, we don't have the simple relationship of one letter to one sound. A set of phonics rules cannot be used to "sound out" every word. (How would a child sound out the word, who?) One letter can represent any of two or more sounds, and one sound can be spelled in more than one way. There are rules which can be applied, but these can be complex, especially for young children. I teach consonant and vowel sounds to preschool children who are first learning their ABC's, but at the kindergarten and first grade levels, I teach children to read basic sight words, then teach phonics in the form of consonant- or vowel-substitution, or the use of the silent e rule, so that the sight vocabulary grows rapidly (at, bat, cat, etc., and pin, pan, pen, pun, or man, mane, main, etc.) By the third grade, many students are able to use the analytical phonics method to unlock hundreds of unfamiliar words (AP-ti-tude, in-VER-te-brate, etc.) As with all school subjects, students differ widely in their learning styles. Some learn sight words well, and are able to apply phonics to the words they know. Some benefit most from a pure phonics approach. Individual tutoring provides a unique opportunity to find the ways in which each student learns best and to fit the instruction to his or her abilities.

Proofreading

Correct written English is one of a few areas in which I believe I have excellent skill. I've done some writing for publication, and my submissions are invariably used unedited. On the basis of an exam and an extemporaneous essay, I was one of only eight students exempted from both required semesters of freshman English at Florida State University, and I believe my writing ability has improved since then. Throughout my academic life, from middle school through my second Master's degree, my essays, research papers, and theses have received few corrections in English usage or mechanics. I have edited and written two parish churches' newsletters. A parishioner who was a University professor remarked that he liked my newsletter articles because I "put all the commas in the right places." For a number of years I edited and wrote for a religious order's newsletter which was sent all over the United States and overseas. This work involved editing and preparing for publication the writing of numerous people. The editor of a much larger church publication thought I was a professional journalist. When a local Spanish-language publication (which consisted mainly of business advertisements) started an English-language edition, I answered an ad for a proofreader, and gave them my corrections for each edition, along with explanations. I was soon pleased to find that I had "worked myself out of a job" as the regular editors became able to write the English translations of the ads on their own. Though I believe my writing is on a professional level, I am not a professional proofreader. I do, however, have access to "proofreader's marks," and am able to use them if the occasion calls for it.

Psychology

I have studied and excelled in a variety of psychology courses at the undergraduate and Master's levels. My two graduate degrees, Master of Education and Master of Arts in Religion, included study in various areas of educational and clinical psychology. One course, under a practicing psychiatrist, included detailed, intensive study in clinical psychology. I have done a significant amount of reading in books and journals, and have a copy of the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual to use as a reference. Although I have used my knowledge of psychology in my several years of pastoral work in hospital chaplaincies and parishes, I consider my knowledge of psychology to be mainly academic. As a tutor I would assist students with papers and test preparation. In preparation for tutoring a student in any area of psychology I would do extra reading and study to update my qualifications.

Reading

My classroom teaching career included the teaching of both kindergarten and first grade. During that time and after retiring, I have successfully tutored many six year olds. Teaching reading is a specialty of mine. Rather than teaching one method, I teach according to the children's own special skills and learning styles. I have a B.A. and an M.Ed. in Elementary Education, and a permanent elementary teaching certificate from the State of Ohio. (Out-of-state certification is good for private schools and tutoring companies in Florida.)

Religion

University-level and high school-level religion courses are often taught by clergy or by laypersons who have theological education equivalent to that of members of the clergy. I have a Master of Arts in Religion degree (MAR) in theology from Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA, near Pittsburgh. The MAR is an academic degree which is the equivalent of a Master of Divinity degree except that it doesn't include the parish internship required by the M.Div. I did, however, work as a parish lay assistant for five years. I also served as a part-time chaplain's assistant in a large hospital complex in Pittsburgh and also in a large Children's Hospital in Cincinnati. I have taught children's and adult Christian education extensively in parishes and schools. Trinity serves the Anglican Church in North America, the Episcopal Church, other Anglican Churches, and students from other Christian bodies. I have had close relationships with members of many Christian churches -- Catholic, Protestant, evangelical, and charismatic-- and am familiar, to various degrees, with their teachings. I worked for a Lutheran school for about two years, and worked closely with some of the pastors. I tutored a student from a Catholic high school for a year, and helped her with her homework for her religion class. I have studied New Testament Greek for a number of years, including a two-semester university course. I'm not an expert in Greek, but I have been an Orthodox Christian for several years, and now use the written Greek language and read the Greek New Testament daily. In the course of my theological studies, I have become familiar with the teachings of other world religions. Christianity (like Islam) has its background in Judaism. The Hebrew Scriptures(with some variations in the books included) make up what Christians know as the Old Testament. I have more than average knowledge of other world religions. I've known pastors who taught courses called "comparative religion" or "world religions". Though I would not

Special Needs

When I majored in Elementary and Special Education, the descriptive word for Special Education students was "exceptional." The current term, Special Needs Education, shows a desirable shift in emphasis. All of us are, first of all, human beings -- more alike than different. Though his or her special needs are secondary to a student's uniqueness as a person, those needs must be addressed and provided for. During my undergraduate study, my concentration was on developmental disabilities, but I also studied physical, emotional, behavioral, visual, auditory, and speech disabilities. I worked in the university speech clinic, helping children who had articulation problems. I spent my semester of internship with two classes (upper and lower elementary) for developmentally disabled students, including some who also had cerebral palsy, and some who had Down Syndrome. I also helped with classes for children who had visual and hearing disabilities. When I planned a zoo trip for all the special classes in the school, I had the pleasure of accompanying the blind and partially-sighted children to the petting zoo, and hearing their delighted comments at being able to feel each animal and stroke its coat. Over the years many of the students I've taught in regular classrooms, or tutored individually, had diagnosed physical, emotional, and behavioral special needs. One or two had a disability that was on the autistic spectrum. Some had perceptive problems, including dyslexia. I taught a few children who had serious chronic illnesses (childhood diabetes, sickle cell anemia, and asthma). Some of my work outside the education field has contributed to my ability in Special Needs Education. For about three years, while working as a pastoral assistant, I spent one day a week serving as an assistant chaplain in a large children's hospital. Later, as a seminary student, I was an assistant chaplain in another city's children's hospital. I'd be happy to be able to tutor children who have to miss school because of

SSAT

I've had extensive experience in helping students prepare for several different standardized tests. I'm familiar with the SSAT because that test is used as an assessment tool for private schools, and all my teaching and administrative experience has been in nonpublic schools.

Study Skills

Teaching study skills was an important part of my work as a professional elementary teacher. Beginning with first grade, and increasingly as the children advanced in age, I worked with them on reading for information, finding main ideas, and finding important and minor details. I spent time with them on vocabulary-building, which I consider an important aspect of study skills. My students learned how to write reports on the material they had read, and how to prepare effectively for tests. I taught them research skills, including library use, outlining, note-taking, the use of the dictionary and other reference books, and the use of multimedia materials. I have used my ability to teach study skills in my individual tutoring of both elementary-age and older students with whom I have used my expertise in: English language skills, including writing; standardized test preparation; and Bible study.

TEAS

For these reasons I believe I am qualified to assist nursing school candidates in preparing for the TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skills): 1.I have studied, and have basic knowledge of, all the subjects the exam covers. 2. I have years of experience in tutoring Reading Comprehension, General Math, and English on the high school level. 3. After taking biology, and chemistry in high school, I studied Biological Science and Physical Sciences in college. I tutored students who were studying these science areas for the GED exam, which is also a test of essential academic skills on the high school level. 4. I have tutored students in preparation for several different standardized tests. I spent seven years tutoring individual students in preparation for the GED exam, which covers much of the same material as forms the basis for the high-school-level material on the TEAS. 5. I spent considerable time researching the TEAS on the internet. My previous statement of my qualifications was entirely in my own words. If I should have an opportunity to tutor a student who plans to take the TEAS, I would purchase my own copy of the TEAS Test Study Guide, study it, take the practice exams, and review as needed in order to be thoroughly familiar with all the subject matter before working with the student.

TOEFL

I've worked with teenage and adult students who have recently come to the United States. I have an excellent knowledge of the English language, including a large reading, writing, and speaking vocabulary and an extensive store of general knowledge. I'm familiar with several TOEFL preparation books with accompanying CDs.

Writing

I excelled in writing throughout my academic years. At Florida State University I was one of only eight students with high enough scores on the entrance exam and its accompanying essay to be exempted from both semesters of freshman English. Though I was a good student, I was not a genius, but I got A's on all the papers I wrote. During my teaching career I taught writing at all grade levels. I tutored high school and college students for their English writing courses and for the essay sections of standardized tests. All of them did well. I developed a new format for a church publication that was sent all over the USA and to other countries; during the many years I edited and wrote for this quarterly newsletter a number of my articles were picked up and published in larger church publications. I edited and wrote for two parish newsletters, and wrote regular articles for another. A parishioner who was a prominent University of Miami professor complimented me on the correctness of my writing: "You put all the commas in the right places." I assisted a Spanish-language advertising newspaper in developing an English edition. As I helped them edit the submissions, instructing them as we progressed, I was pleased to find that I had worked myself out of a job, and they could continue without my assistance. I like to "work myself out of a job" with the students I teach, so they can continue confidently and capably on their own.