Hi, I'm Dan. I have a B.S. in English/Secondary Education as well as a P.B.C. in Instructional Design and Development from Towson University with additional graduate course work in instructional technology. Additionally, I also did pre-med coursework. I am licensed in Maryland to teach Science grades 4-9 and English grades 6-12. I have worked as a middle school classroom teacher in science, ELA, and math in both private and public schools. As a private school teacher, I received a teacher...
Hi, I'm Dan. I have a B.S. in English/Secondary Education as well as a P.B.C. in Instructional Design and Development from Towson University with additional graduate course work in instructional technology. Additionally, I also did pre-med coursework. I am licensed in Maryland to teach Science grades 4-9 and English grades 6-12. I have worked as a middle school classroom teacher in science, ELA, and math in both private and public schools. As a private school teacher, I received a teacher of the year award. I have also worked as a 1:1 reading tutor for an elementary school and a home and hospital teacher for the local public school system. I began my teaching career as a high school English teacher. Outside of tutoring and teaching, I also have worked as a volunteer and program director for chess clubs and robotics teams.
I have taught or tutored students in all grades and ability levels. Though, Middle school is my jam. I have tutored Math up through Algebra, Science, and English Language Arts. However, I have done a fair amount or early childhood reading tutoring, especially phonics based programs. I can do High School English, Earth Science, Biology, and Chemistry, but I prefer to stay away from the AP courses, as I have been in middle school world for so long.
I believe that tutoring is a combination of evaluating students' strengths and weaknesses, developing strategies to help them succeed academically, and helping them build confidence in their abilities. It is important to work with the student, parents/guardians, and teachers as team. The benefit of 1:1 tutoring is pacing. We operate at the individual student's pace. If that means that we go back a little to fill in some gaps, we can do that. We also can come up with solutions that work for that student. Even in my classroom, I would often make graphic organizers and other instructional aids to help students succeed. I like to figure out how my students' minds work. This helps me to come up with strategies that feel more natural to them.
