EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
I take a very hands-on, collaborative approach to teaching. I find that students learn best if they are actively involved in a learning strategy that focuses on their strengths and minimizes their weaknesses, so it’s important to get to know each student’s learning style in order to teach successfully.
One of the most advantageous aspects of tutoring is that students can be more of an active participant in learning, and I think this is a crucial step in order to actively engage in the learning material and make a lasting impact when in situations where they are resigned to a more passive role in their education (back in the classroom, or test taking).
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in 3 years with a dual major in Anthropology and English. I took considerable time off during my college years to travel abroad to Brazil and Egypt, where I served as a tutor for disadvantaged groups in both countries. I also spent a year and a half in Rennes, France as a high school student. My education is a unique blend of traditional classroom experience and practical, world-wide learning.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
In my current role as an ESL tutor, I provide one-on-one tutoring for international students currently attending high school in American schools. While living in Egypt, I served as a literacy tutor to Sudanese refugees who had little to no English language skills; a large part of the tutoring experience entailed equipping my students with not only the language skills they needed to be successful, but also valuable life and career skills that would enable them to progress professionally in a different country.
I also previously worked as an academic coordinator for adult French students learning business English. I am specialized in teaching French, as well as in ESL and English tutoring. Much of my professional experience comes as an admissions counselor at an elite university (Georgetown University), which has equipped me especially well to understand the demands and challenges facing many high school students today, especially when concerned with standardized test taking and the admissions process.
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
I spend a decent amount of my free-time writing and editing various pieces of prose and poetry, and have had several poems published in regional literary magazines. I also enjoy running and hiking in the many Appalachian trail near to me in my hometown region of Western Maryland. When I’m not doing any of the above, I’m trying to keep up with my two-year old daughter.
