...grades 6 through 12 in public school and independent school. I prepared for teaching with an undergraduate degree in English from Georgetown University and a Masters in Arts from Boston University, focusing on English Secondary Education. Most recently, I taught sixth and seventh graders for five years at a local, prestigious independent school. Being a classroom teacher was extremely challenging and exciting, but I always wanted to have more time to work individually with students...
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...in fact it is the education system that is failing the child. Every child has their own way of learning, and as an educator, it is my mission to make sure that every child achieves his/her goals. I am originally from Orlando, FL but relocated to Massachusetts a little over a year ago. I went to the University of Central Florida where I obtained my Bachelors in Elementary Education. I have six years experience in...
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...the guidance of several tutors. By high school, I was able to enjoy AP English courses and became a tutor for numerous courses myself. During my senior year of high school I joined the Air Force, where I would be assigned as an instructor in Washington, DC. After the service, I resumed tutoring through volunteer work with ESL, GED and citizenship exam preparation. Although I am experienced in a plethora of subjects, I most enjoy...
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...test preparation. I enjoy teaching writing and helping students who are having difficulty in reading comprehension. I have seen the excited look on a child's face when they get an increase in reading or writing scores on mandatory state tests. It gives them a tremendous boost in confidence and self esteem. Since I have extensive experience in tutoring, it will be my pleasure to instill that confidence. Since I am an English teacher, naturally I...
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...am a sociocognitive psychologist, and am currently conducting research on cross-cultural religiosity and prejudice. I am currently a Teaching Assistant for upper-division undergraduate students at my university, and starting next Spring I will be a full-fledged teacher at the undergraduate level. I took both International Baccalaureate courses in addition to Advanced Placement courses in high school, and have been involved in Honors courses and extra-curricular research activities since the beginning of my undergraduate education. Additionally,...
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...when my teachers sent me to help others in my school, and have continued ever since. I have always loved helping students raise their grades and strengthen their understanding of a subject. My greatest academic passions are history and writing, and I truly enjoy sharing the information I have worked so hard to gain. I have worked professionally as a copyeditor and excel at aiding students in the areas of proofreading and referencing. My tutoring...
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...Bachelor's of Arts in both English and History. After college, my journey led me to the state of Arkansas where I fell in love with teaching 120 tenth graders. Imagine how surprised they were to realize that their teacher had more energy than them! I have experience in tutoring and teaching with a distinct flair for humor. I am a ball of lightning so my personality will spark up any room. My teaching style incorporates...
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...as a Teacher and Special Education Administrator in suburban and inner city school systems, for more than 30 years. I worked in the areas of Behavior Disorders and Special Education. I attended Morris Brown College where I attained a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. I attended Atlanta University where I attained a Master of Arts degree in Behavior Disorders and a Master of Arts degree in Leadership for Director of Special Education. My...
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...consider myself to be a "Jack of all Trades". I have 8 years experience as a college professor teaching, business, life skills, academic success, ESOL, citizenship (government/US history), vocabulary, customer service and tutoring. I believe in teaching the individual. To me, this means learning who the student is both inside and outside of the learning environment. Everyone learns differently, but people learn more quickly when the information is presented in a manner that is relevant...
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...all things music. I specialize in teaching Mandarin Chinese. I have been taking Chinese classes ever since I was 13, but what got me seriously interested in the language and the culture was when I lived in Taiwan for 2 years in a service capacity. During this time, I had the opportunity to serve in a number of cities in southern and western Taiwan and speak constantly with native Chinese-speakers. I gained a love for...
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...student at Truman State University studying computer science and economics. I love being able to share my love of learning with others and even more so, I enjoy breaking down material in ways that can help others gain confidence and strength in their studies. I believe that everyone has the ability to learn a subject given that they find the correct learning style for their needs. I have a strong background in both tutoring and...
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...teacher with experience in 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th grade teaching all subjects. I've spent time teaching in Orlando, South Florida, and in Spain. My favorite subject is reading. I believe that reading can take the mind on any adventure and open you up to a brand new world that would rather seem unimaginable. When tutoring, I focus my lessons around the student's personal needs and interests. I will do what it takes and teach...
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...be open to learn though and a great teacher can help to open a mind to that. Learning can be fun and especially when you work one-on-one with someone. The lessons can be focused to exactly what one needs and that really helps things to move along more quickly. After being in education for over 20 years, I am excited to work with new people and to experience teaching in a whole new way!
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My objective as your tutor is to help figure out what your specific obstacles are -- what you know, what you don't know, what you need to learn -- and help you get past them. My tutoring is very goal-oriented and personalized for each client.... I believe anyone can learn anything; it just takes proper instruction, some effort, and then plenty of practice. What usually causes problems for students is instruction that is too fast, or...
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...all levels with their understanding of history, essay writing, test preparation, test-taking and study skills. I can also help with first-year law courses and LSAT testing. At both the University of Alabama and Atlanta Metropolitan College, I taught U.S. and World History. I am well versed in both subject areas. My student evaluations were always very high, and I focused on making History fun and relevant to things happening today. I try to take history...
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...the individual tutoring space and a proven track record of success with students from widely varied backgrounds and academic levels. My relevant work history includes time a literary/technical editor at two Canadian publishing houses, freelance writing coaching for both secondary and post-secondary school clients, providing exam preparation for International Baccalaureate candidates, and tutoring at-risk youth in the Los Angeles Family Shelter system. I would love the opportunity to discuss your needs and look forward to...
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...grade English in Massachusetts, and I previously taught 6, 7, and 8th grade English in the Bronx, New York. I am an avid reader and writer, with a BA in Literature and Creative Writing from Bard College. As an educator, I strive to provide each student with the concrete strategies that allow readers to make meaning of text, and to clearly express ideas through writing. I make my process as a reader and writer transparent,...
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...certification for the state of Texas in addition to my history degree, and I will also receive a broadcast certificate with my journalism degree upon graduation. I have worked as a mentor/tutor for 6 years, mainly with elementary-aged children who struggle with both academic and social issues in school. I am extremely passionate about my areas of expertise, and I pride myself in the ability to make "dry" information engaging and interesting. I have a...
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...corporate law firm and a freelance translator. Before that I worked as a teacher during my summers in college instructing adolescents from both upscale and low-income neighborhoods. While I tutor a wide variety of subjects I'm most passionate about Spanish, History, and Literature. In my experience, helping students learn Spanish and prepare for standardized tests is the most rewarding part of teaching and tutoring. I'm a native Spanish speaker and love teaching the language and...
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...Colombia. Currently, I am studying to get my PhD at the University of Chicago. I have extensive experience teaching and tutoring a variety of ages and subjects (in particular, I have the most experience tutoring for the PSAT, SAT and college admissions essays, as well as math, English literature and Spanish to middle school students). My favorite subject to tutor is Math because it was my favorite as a child and adolescent. I love interacting...
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Receive personally tailored 8th Grade Writing lessons from exceptional tutors in a one-on-one setting. We help you connect with the best tutor for your particular needs while offering flexible scheduling to fit your busy life.
8th Grade Writing Tutoring FAQ
By eighth grade, most students have become fairly confident with their academic progress and school standing. In the last year of middle school, however, this paradigm can quickly change, as teachers focus on preparing students for the rigors of high school. While the transitions from pre-algebra to algebra and life science to biology may not be particularly imposing, the expected advancement in students' reading comprehension and compositional skills can be overwhelming. In eighth grade, students are introduced to close reading exercises that are designed to help them gain nuanced meaning from literature, and they are expected to be able to compose passages about the literary analysis they have gleaned from a presented work. If your child is struggling to master the intricacies of high-level literary interpretation, or is having difficulty translating his or her observations into original compositions and essays, eighth grade writing tutoring may be the key to mastering these skills before high school.
Essay composition in sixth and seventh grade is rooted in persuasive writing, which encompasses the five-paragraph essay model. In eighth grade writing, however, students are forced to adopt a new approach. The intertwining of literary comprehension and composition requires a level of insight and awareness that can be very difficult to obtain in a classroom setting. It often requires students to make unintuitive leaps between the words on the page and the authors intended meanings, and to convey such logic in the form of a thesis statement and analytical essay.
If your child is an eighth grade student who is struggling with writing, Varsity Tutors can help you connect with a writing tutor who focuses on building the mentality that your student will need to become a well-versed English student in high school, helping him or her to develop the skills required to analyze complex poetry and prose, and to convey their thought processes and interpretations on paper.
Writing proficiency is an important component of success in high school, college, and in many professional fields. In order to make sure that your child gains the skills needed to succeed in these environments, they will need to be able to write well thought out essays and letters. While some students benefit from studying in the classroom, many need an extra push to be sure that they get the guidance needed to overcome any obstacles they face. Fortunately, Varsity Tutors is excited to help these students find a private writing tutor that can implement a customized lesson plan best suited to their needs.
When you contact your local branch of Varsity Tutors, you will be helped in connecting with tutors who are best suited to your child's immediate needs. Your tutor will carefully consider your child's learning habits, compositional tendencies, and areas of strength and weakness, in order to help you to complement your child's learning goals. Each session promotes one-on-one learning, allowing your child to receive immediate and targeted feedback to help develop his or her literary voice. The individual attention available with a private tutor can easily help your student develop the tools for success in future composition-based courses.
By helping your child to think like a writer, you can help him or her find success well beyond his or her eighth-grade year. Compositional skills are core requirements for almost any career, and they are certainly an essential aspect of the college application process. Writing tutoring can help your child develop the fundamental skill set that can help carry him or her forward into numerous academic and professional pursuits.
For more information about connecting with a tutor in your area, contact Varsity Tutors today and ask for assistance finding the right tutor for you. It doesn't matter if you want to study in person face-to-face over the internet, there is an experienced instructor who is eager to help make your child's dreams a reality.
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Recent 8th Grade Writing Tutoring Session Notes
First, we discussed the effectiveness of the organization skills he has started to put into practice. After that discussion, I brought a vocabulary worksheet for him to match the definitions. I circled the words he struggled with and provided a sentence example that seemed to really help. For the remainder of the session, we worked on writing prompts. I had him pick two prompts that interested him and we tried two different outline systems. Next week, I will have him write a paper from each outline to see which one allowed his thought process to brainstorm most efficiently.
The student and I reviewed the grammatical terms his teacher said would be present on the final. After reviewing each term, he created his own example of a sentence in which the grammatical structure being discussed was present or I presented him with a sentence for him to diagram.
We read and discussed the top 100 most common SAT vocabulary words. She was familiar with many of them, yet she does not use them in her writing. We reviewed a previous essay. She made corrections to it. She also completed a sentence correction portion of the practice test and she was 20% correct. We discussed her answers. I gave her a practice writing prompt and as she drew and told me how she would outline her paper, I wrote it down for her. She is a great artist so drawing as she thinks is what she does best. I will continue to do activities while she can have her hands free to draw and think objectively.
We prepared on outline for the previously written paper using notes from that assignment. I explained to him how an outline is set up and together we completed the assignment. He understood the task.
Student 1 wrote two essays based on essay topics that I sent him for the novel he recently completed, The Outsiders. I read both essays, provided written and oral feedback, and discussed areas that need improvement such as elaboration, support, and clarity. He will re-write both essays based on my feedback and I will check them during our next session. Student 2 wrote two essays based on the recently read novel. The Time Machine. I also provided him written and oral feedback and outlined what areas need improvement such as support, organization, and word choice. He will re-write them based on my notes and I will review them during our next session. Both boys will begin reading their second novel on their summer reading list.
In this session with the student, we went over all of the writing assignments that she was able to complete while on her trip. She read Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," and Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat." She wrote two short comparative essays for the Poe stories, and two analysis essays for "The Lottery." Her fundamentals, grammar and spelling are strong and she knows how to structure essays for them to be logical. Where she needs work is in the areas of phrasing and flow- her sentences are repetitive and choppy, with repetitive words and simple structure. We went through her essays and practiced combining her sentences into longer ones using commas, semicolons and conjunction words, and went through circling repeated words and coming up with different ways to say the same thing without using those phrases.
