Hello! I'm Mary. I have a bachelor's degree in English and a master's degree in Deaf Education. I offer online tutoring in English and writing to high school and college deaf and hard of hearing students. I've always loved helping others discover their strengths and hidden talents. While studying for my master's degree in Deaf Education, I had an opportunity to tutor a deaf student who also was working on her master's degree. It was a tremendously rewarding experience. Working with her one on...
Hello! I'm Mary. I have a bachelor's degree in English and a master's degree in Deaf Education. I offer online tutoring in English and writing to high school and college deaf and hard of hearing students. I've always loved helping others discover their strengths and hidden talents. While studying for my master's degree in Deaf Education, I had an opportunity to tutor a deaf student who also was working on her master's degree. It was a tremendously rewarding experience. Working with her one on one, I was able to get to know her academic strengths and goals. Using this knowledge, I planned tutoring sessions to help her understand the nuances of written English. There was a marked improvement in writing skills as well as confidence level. As a bonus, her reading comprehension improved! I found what I enjoyed and what I wanted to continue doing....tutoring.
Many of the English courses I took in college focused on writing, and as a side-effect, on the way word order and grammar changes meaning. I found this aspect of the English language particularly interesting. More importantly, understanding why word order changes meaning is critical to conveying meaning accurately. I have used different methods to help students understand this. All methods center around the student's strengths and first language.
I am hard of hearing. Two of my children are either deaf or hard of hearing. Working on my master's degree has given me insight to and an understanding of the unique learning needs of deaf and hard of hearing students. Most d/hh students struggle with figurative language, idiomatic expressions, and inferences. I am able to explain these as well as the writing thought process using the student's first language, whether it be ASL, or another language, as a guide.
With new students, I like to exchange a couple emails to get to know the student, their strengths, and what they expect to gain from being tutored. Currently, I am available for online tutoring Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10:00am - 4:00p
