After receiving my Bachelor's Degree in Digital Media from the Savannah College of Art and Design I worked as a Paraprofessional at an elementary school near my hometown. It was there, while I worked along fifth grade students, that I realized I am most fulfilled when I am able to help others learn. While I continued to work full-time I earned me certification as a teacher of English as a Second Language the The TEFL Academy. With the rest of the time available in the school year I tutored at...
After receiving my Bachelor's Degree in Digital Media from the Savannah College of Art and Design I worked as a Paraprofessional at an elementary school near my hometown. It was there, while I worked along fifth grade students, that I realized I am most fulfilled when I am able to help others learn. While I continued to work full-time I earned me certification as a teacher of English as a Second Language the The TEFL Academy. With the rest of the time available in the school year I tutored at the Pittsfield Adult Learning Center, working with adults. Their knowledge level ranged from beginner to intermediate. I most often acted as a one on one tutor with different students from week to week.
I made alterations to the lesson plan that the teacher I observed during the practicum portion of my certification taught me. While my mentor would warm the class up with songs such as What a Wonderful World I would provide a sheet with the English lyrics and translated lyrics in the student’s language side by side. We would then go over individual words in context, their translations, and use the song to engage the student I was working with to increase his vocabulary and pattern recognition skills. I also used the lyrics as a tool for testing my student’s comprehension over the course of the class.
