WE'RE OPEN! CALL NOW
Fun Facts
I lived in East Africa for two years as a 6th and 7th grader. My father worked for a foreign aid project and I went to school. I learned British spelling, British history, and how to do math problems in pounds, shillings, and pence. Sadly, the last skill is now obsolete.
The rest of my growing-up years were spent in Missoula, Montana, which is just as beautiful as it sounds.
About Me
I am a retired high school teacher. I taught all the regular science subjects and especially enjoyed teaching physical science.
also was lucky enough to spend several years teaching in a highly successful remedial reading program. This class was for freshmen who were reading at least two years below grade level. Many were reading from six to eight years below grade level. It was common for a student to bring up their reading scores by two to six grade levels in one school year.
Experience
My college had an old and well-established free tutoring center for children from the community. I volunteered nearly every semester there and really loved it. At the beginning I had very little idea how to tutor and I would be amazed to get reports of how much my student had improved.
As a high school teacher I spend a lot of my free time after school tutoring my students. Sometimes a student who just can't get a concept in class will do just fine when it's presented presented one-on-one.
Approach
I work with the student closely to find and correct any misconceptions that my be holding him or her back.
I believe that good readers are not made by doing worksheets about reading strategies. Good readers love reading so they read a lot and get better and better at it. I have been known to go to extremely great lengths to find a book that a resistant student is willing to read.
I knew I was successful when an adult student told me she nearly read past her bus stop!
Beloit College
English Literature
Biology Tutoring
My high school biology teacher was a Vo-Tech teacher who had to teach this one class out of his field. He had a fresh perspective on the subject and made science lovers out of everybody in that 7:30 a.m. class! I have taught biology and always try to remember to include the technical details, the overall picture, and especially all the biology stories that students remember. I did well in biology and will never forget the doctor who stopped an epidemic by disabling the Broad Street pump.
Chemistry Tutoring
I taught high school chemistry to students who were prepared for it and students who probably shouldn't have taken the class at all and learned to break it down so that all of them could relate to it. For some of the most troublesome types of problems, I developed and taught step-by-step routines for solving them, which kids could learn and follow.
Math Tutoring
I have always loved math, and this turned out to be a good thing when I was a graduate student at Georgia Tech. I have taught math to adult GED students. You need a lot of math to get through most high school science classes and I was always prepared to teach it to any student who hadn't learned in in their math class.
Science Tutoring
Over twenty-five years I taught more Physical Science classes than any other subject. I loved Physical Science because it includes such a broad range of topics and because there are so many ways to relate the subjects to the students' real lives.
Study Skills Tutoring
I incorporated study skills into all the subjects I taught. I also am the mother of two boys who were not born knowing how to study and didn't always want to do it when they did know how. Additionally I watched my husband earn a degree from Divinity School and learned a lot of very effective study methods from him.
Algebra Tutoring
I have always loved math, and this turned out to be a good thing when I was a graduate student at Georgia Tech. I have taught math to adult GED students. You need a lot of math to get through most high school science classes and I was always prepared to teach it to any student who hadn't learned in in their math class. I always thought Algebra and Geometry were the most fun of all the math subjects I took.
English Tutoring
I have a Bachelor's degree in English literature. I have spent the last seven years teaching reading and language to adults. My students improved, passed tests, and moved up to higher level classes.
Reading Comprehension Tutoring
As a high school teacher I spent several years teaching in a highly successful remedial reading program. My reading students tested from seventh grade downs to kindergarten level in reading and all of them improved, many of them dramatically. The reading program focused on comprehension. Rather than learn about HOW to read, my classes read teen novels. My classes would vote on the next book to read together, and they were able to pick out books because they liked them, the same way adults do. It's amazing what reading something you want to read will do for your comprehension!
Request Me Now