...education programs. My teaching philosophy is student-centered, meaning that to be effective, lessons must take into account the students??? ability and learning style. I believe that the core grammatical fundamentals of the language must form the basis of instruction, woven into a practical approach to learning English. I take pride in developing meaningful, contemporary lessons to make sure that students are well-engaged in the learning activities, as opposed to rote memorization and meaningless dialogues. I...
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...get my master's in middle eastern studies. Currently, I am studying Arabic through an online program offered by Oregon State University. I am fortunate to have had many different kinds of tutoring experiences. I volunteered in Quito, Ecuador with a non-profit daycare facility for at-risk youth. My duties included reading with children in English and helping them with school work. In junior high and high school I was a peer mentor. This gave me experience...
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...way. Patience, and determination, are my strongest attributes. I want to make sure that every session is productive, and the student walks away with new knowledge, and skills. I am currently attending The University of North Texas majoring in Interdisiciplinary Studies EC-6th Generalist/ESL certification. That long title is just a fancy way to say I will be teaching elementary age children. I am in my fourth year, and will hopefully be starting student teaching Fall...
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...and you can often find me reading my own books whenever I have time. I believe that a positive environment is the key to learning. When students are happy, safe, and enjoying their tasks, they acquire new information much more quickly and easily. It is my mission to always create this environment with my students and those I tutor. I have experience tutoring both elementary and middle school students in all subjects and have done...
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...Master's in Educational Leadership, and I'm also a certified yoga instructor and life coach. My background allows me to bring both academic expertise and a calm, supportive approach to learning. As your tutor, my priority is building a strong connection with you so we can create a plan tailored to your needs, learning style, and goals. Whether you're looking for support in English, writing, or study skills, I'm here to help you feel more confident...
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...tutored at the junior high - introductory college course level in social studies and related subjects are my forte. As a tutor, I find that its easiest when the student learns in a guided manner, rather than bland memorization or content exposure. With one on one teaching, it is possible to do this effectively and, with effort, will lead to higher absorption of material - and yes, higher grades. Outside of tutoring, I'm currently a...
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...In 2011, I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Macalester College in English language and Literature. Before tutoring with Varsity Tutors, I tutored for another private company. I am an excellent tutor because I remember distinctly what it was like to be a student and can both empathize with their frustrations and help them to move past those blocks and toward a greater understanding of the material. I believe in my students and genuinely...
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...courses and tutored students outside of class. I've kept numerous emails from students who thanked me for giving them novel ways to study, one even raising her grade from a D to an A- over the course of the semester! I love to brainstorm ways to make information accessible to every uniquely wired mind and learning style. I focus heavily on checking students' understanding of basic concepts before trying to explore the more technical details....
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...completed my MA in library science at the University of Arizona, where I studied data management and information services. Most of my formal training is oriented toward university-level teaching and research, but my past work as a gymnastics coach has also given me a lot of practical experience working with young children. Even now, kids in elementary grades remain some of my very favorite students--I really enjoy writing joke books and short stories with them,...
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...my own shorts, music videos, and documentaries. Even though I'm out of school for now, I'm eager to help younger students learn and succeed. Even though I'm a humanities gal, I love and miss math. It's so satisfying to determine what 'x' equals instead of arguing endlessly controversial topics; I love doing both. Outside of film and tutoring, I love to dance both ballet, modern, and to whatever songs my roommates and I play. I...
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...the arts and the sciences gave me great appreciation for different learning styles and different ways to grasp material. I myself had to learn to learn differently; I had to adjust to the different topics, and I spent a great deal of time studying how students learn in both the humanities and the sciences. During my time at GVSU, I worked at both the Frederick Meijer Center for Writing and Michigan Authors and the CLAS...
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...my clients achieve their literature, grammar, reading comprehension, and academic writing goals. Since earning a Master's degree in English in 2009 from Winthrop University, I have taught post-secondary composition and literature for both traditionally enrolled students and those with developing skills, and I am currently pursuing a PhD from Old Dominion University. As a result, I am qualified to work with students at the undergraduate and graduate level on everything from admission's essays to MLA...
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...high school. I also homeschooled my three children for seven years. Two of my children have dyslexia, so I learned what works best with them. I love working with kids of all ages and try to help them in any way I can. I love to travel, spend time with family and friends, read novels, and entertain my dog and two cats. I am looking forward to having grandchildren. My hobbies are scrapbooking and gardening.
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...University in Los Angeles where I was part of the Partners in Los Angeles Education (PLACE) Corps. There I earned my Master of Arts in Secondary Education and my California Single Subject Clear Credential with an authorization in social science. I am currently in the process of adding an English authorization to my credential. I will return to Loyola Marymount to work on a second Master's degree in the Fall. I have been in the...
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...Writing, Literature, and PUblishing as well as Higher Education and Student Affairs. Education is a huge passion in my life and I want to encourage the pursuit of it as much as I can! If you need help with grammar, vocabulary, or even with the art of writing an essay or paper, I'd love to help you out. I'm also available to tutor you in basic math and Spanish concepts. For all you IB'ers out...
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...excel academically! I have been a teacher for 15 years. My first 2 years were spent teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Math. For the past 13 years I have been teaching 5th grade. I have taught a variety of subjects and concepts including general math, pre-Algebra, introduction to Geometry, Elementary Life and Physical Science, Ancient Civilizations, and American History. I am also proficient in comprehension skills, vocabulary skills, and writing skills. along with study...
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...1 schools. Each of my students requires individualized attention and specific interventions in math and reading. I work with my team to analyze student data and to work with them to create interventions that bring students from a lower test score to passing test score. Before my work as a teacher, I worked on a pilot program with bringing their program into a St. Louis City charter school. In this position, I worked with students...
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...University of Pennsylvania. I spent the past year working as a full-time high school English teacher in the Council Rock School District where I taught ninth grade English, Public Speaking, and Ancient Mythology. I have always wanted to be a teacher, and I have had numerous opportunities to work with students in various settings. While at Gettysburg, I was a tutor for several after school programs working with elementary to high school students. I studied...
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...have worked extensively with students who are struggling readers and learners, and I am committed to helping my clients succeed. I specialize in tutoring English, writing, Social Studies, and subjects within the Humanities. I also have experience in test prep, helping students with test anxiety, and assisting with basic study and organizational skills. I have studied at Oxford University and participated in intensive archival research at Brown University, and I have been the recipient of...
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...connections beyond one content area. I enjoy working with students because they are our future and I hope to help them learn to evaluate their choices, and make well informed decisions, rather than hastily made ones. I believe that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, which also applies to decisions. We all have to live with our choices, for good or for bad. I hope that I can help support students to accept...
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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.
