Nicole

Certified Tutor

I am a graduate of The University of South Florida. I received my Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education in 2013. Since graduation, I have taught second grade for 8 years and first grade for 1 year (in conjunction with second grade) in two fabulous schools. In addition, I have tutored students in reading, writing and math in first - third grade after school since 2013 until the present. My favorite subjects to teach and tutor are: reading, writing, math and science.

As a student who was a fantastic reader and writer throughout school, but really struggled with math, I absolutely LOVE to teach children math because I know how it feels to not understand it. It is so important to have someone who supports and understands how to build confidence, show the steps to solve hard problems and generally, take the "mystery" and "scariness" out of math. I definitely pride myself on being one of those teachers for students.

I am also Reading Endorsed through a University of Florida Reading Program. I achieved mastery in all 5 competencies of reading. As an avid reader my whole life, I absolutely LOVE to teach and show children understanding of how to read, reading to understand, discovering new genres, and reading for enjoyment!

When I teach and tutor, one of the most important things to me are that the students enjoy the lesson and want to learn more. When a student says, "I love math because now I understand!" or, "Can we do some more math?" Or, "I found a new book I love!" Or, "Did you know that a bat sleeps upside down?" my teacher heart fills with pride because it shows they are loving to learn. As adults, we learn when things are interesting to us, when things matter to us, and when things are fun to us. Children are the same. I believe in making sure the children are engaged, having fun learning, making conversation with each other, learning from each other, building confidence, relating the content to life skills, learning how to apply the content when they are working independently, and overall, becoming lifelong learners.

When I am not tutoring or teaching, I enjoy reading, working out, eating healthy and discovering new healthy recipes, spending time with my friends and family, and hanging out with my Golden Retriever!