Annie
Certified Tutor
Undergraduate Degree: San Diego State University - Bachelor in Arts, Classical Language, minor in English
Graduate Degree: San Francisco State University - Master of Arts, Classics
I enjoy reading, translating, learning new languages, crafting, and going to the library.
Classics
College English
High School English
Latin 1
Latin 3
Latin 4
What is your teaching philosophy?
Teaching is a two-way street. A student needs to be motivated in order to learn and a teacher needs to love the subject in order to teach. Those are the two essentials in this process.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
I believe in getting to know my students. I need to understand what works for a student and what doesn't work. I believe that every student is brilliant in his or her own way, the teacher just needs to find how to draw that out of a student. Tutoring is amazing in the fact that it is personal, and I will have the time to learn each student individually.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
I believe in compliments and constructive criticism. I will praise where there is meant to be praise because no matter the age of a student, everyone needs positive reinforcement from time to time.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
If I see a student having difficulty learning a concept, I will break it down a different way. I have learned through my past experiences as a tutor that there are so many different kinds of learners. I have learned to deconstruct many ideas in so many different ways. I can use charts, diagrams, lists, etc. There are so many options and there is no such thing as one way of teaching.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
This is a struggle that is close to my heart because I once struggled with this as well. Reading comprehension is a matter of deconstruction. The most important parts of a sentence are the subject and verb. Once identifying the key points of a story, one would then look at the details. I believe in breaking everything down to the basics because everything builds on the basics.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Perhaps the most touching feedback I've heard from my students was about the amount of time and care I put into getting to know who they are and how they learn. I believe in individualized attention. A lot of it is trial and error, but I will never give up on a student. I believe that everyone is capable of learning anything with the right guidance and technique.