Douglas: Toronto tutor
Certified Tutor
I am a graduate of Eastern Washington University where I received my Master's of Education and Kindergarten through Eighth Grade Teaching Certificate with a focus on Elementary Education. In addition to this, I hold Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics from the University of Washington and also a Teaching Minor in German from Eastern Washington University.
My teaching experience comes from five years as a Substitute Teacher on both the west and east side of Washington State working with a broad range of ages and abilities mainly at the elementary level but also teaching German and other subjects at the High School level. I really enjoy the unique challenges of working with all age groups and mainly enjoy the satisfaction that comes from guiding a student through a new skill or set of knowledge.
In my free time, I enjoy playing music; I have played the guitar most of my life. I also am really into good food and enjoy cooking and discovering new places to eat.
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Undergraduate Degree: University of Washington-Seattle Campus - Bachelor in Arts, Linguistics
Graduate Degree: Eastern Washington University - Masters in Education, Education
Music, cooking, spending time with his dog
- 6th Grade Reading
- 7th Grade Reading
- 8th Grade Reading
- College English
- Conversational German
- Elementary School Reading
- English
- Essay Editing
- German
- German 1
- German 2
- High School English
- Languages
- Linguistics
- Middle School Reading
- Other
- Public Speaking
- Reading
- Special Education
- Study Skills
- Study Skills and Organization
- Summer
- Writing
What is your teaching philosophy?
The heart of helping a student with reading comprehension is to have them read to you and ask questions through the reading to check comprehension and pinpoint what exactly the student is struggling with. It could be issues with vocabulary, and you can help the student by clarifying what specific words mean. It could be grammar, such as misunderstanding verb tenses, so it could be helpful to break apart syntax structures to guide the student to understanding just what a sentence is communicating. Sometimes, students are very good at sounding out the words in text, but they aren't actually processing the information, so you need to get them to slow down and frequently paraphrase what they have read. The main point is that they need frequent guided reading and the teacher needs to closely analyze what the student is getting hung up on.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
A first session would mostly be exploratory. I will have communicated with the client ahead of time and brought any relevant materials. I would use that time to ascertain what the clients needs and goals were with the specific material and proceed from there.