Laura
Certified Tutor
As a life-long student myself, I take great pleasure in encouraging and awakening students to learning and have been quite successful at this. As a teacher and tutor, I have no difficulty teaching and conversing with students confidently and clearly. Through these same experiences I also learned flexibility in learning and teaching styles. I have a knack for quickly developing rapport with students.
I have been a classroom teacher, an instructor, and a tutor for more than 10 years. I have tutored public and private high school students and college athletes at a Division I university. I have taught classes in a variety of subjects from high school to adults.
When a subject -- like History -- is interesting to me, it gets communicated (like a virus!) to those around me. I believe that the stories behind the facts are the more interesting and can share those insights with my students.
I also have decades of experience sewing and designing clothes and costumes and would be very happy to share what I know with others. I have never met a pattern that cannot be improved upon!
My teaching style is always affirmative. I believe in praise and encouragement when earned and frequent doses of humor whenever appropriate and possible as it breaks down barriers to learning.
I bring intelligence, knowledge, energy, humor, great communication skills, lots of experience, dependability, responsibility and a passion for learning to my work.
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Undergraduate Degree: University of Washington - Bachelors, Music, Theater
Graduate Degree: California Institute of the Arts - Master of Fine Arts, Costume Design
History, Costume Design, Reading, Dogs, Photography, Jewelry-Making, Writing Children's Stories
- 10th Grade Reading
- 10th Grade Writing
- 11th Grade Reading
- 11th Grade Writing
- 12th Grade Reading
- 12th Grade Writing
- ACT English
- ACT Reading
- ACT Writing
- Adult Literacy
- Advanced Placement Prep
- Ancient and Medieval Heritage
- AP European History
- AP United States History
- AP US History
- College English
- College Level American History
- College World History
- English
- Essay Editing
- European History
- Gifted
- High School English
- High School Level American History
- High School World History
- High School Writing
- History
- Homeschool
- Homework Support
- Honors
- OLSAT Prep
- Other
- Reading
- SAT Reading
- SAT Subject Test in World History
- SAT Subject Tests Prep
- SAT Verbal
- SAT Writing and Language
- Shakespeare
- Social Studies
- Study Skills
- Study Skills and Organization
- Summer
- US History
- Vocabulary
- World History
- Writing
What is your teaching philosophy?
I'm listening! My students are going to have a better idea than I -- at first -- about what they need help with. Observe, ask questions, and work together to problem solve their success.
Encouragement, patience, and humor ALWAYS. Praise when earned.
Adapt and be flexible. Students learn in many different modalities.
Every student is a brilliant A+ student and will be treated as such, until they prove otherwise.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
Tools! Give them a framework for learning that fits their abilities. Practice, repeat, embed that framework until they can 'own' it.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
Change up the routine. Use humor. Take breaks. Encourage and praise in adequate quantities.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Reword. Try a different path (approach) to the same destination. Change the learning style used to arrive at an answer. Ask for their assessment of the stumbling blocks. Ask someone else for input and help.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
Break it down into the smallest bites necessary. Stop frequently and ask questions or explain. Try multiple learning styles (e.g., maybe they comprehend better if they read it out loud).
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Listen and question first! Never start out by talking at them. They're probably nervous -- put them at ease. Enlist them in their own learning -- you're a team!
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Learn the basics: what grade, what school, what subjects he/she likes. Then I ask for his/her personal insight into why we're meeting and what his/her expectation from tutoring is. I'll ask if he/she knows what his/her learning style is, what he/she wants to accomplish, set (reasonable) goals, and settle into where he/she is in the subject matter. I'll ask questions, but mostly I listen.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Personalize it, if possible. Use multiple learning tools, tell stories, and teach learning tricks. Encourage (always) and praise (when appropriate).
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Ask content questions. Ask for interpolations/extrapolations from the information covered. Drill. Ask the student to teach it back to me.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Step by step. Confirm and praise his/her mastery of material. Keep track of where he/she started and how far he/she has come. Again, teaching it back with confidence builds self-esteem.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
Ask questions. Listen! Ask the student about what has worked/not worked for them in the past. Adjust my teaching style to match their need.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
Visual aids, extra-textual sources, maps, drawings, music (!), and a laptop.