Benedette: Trenton tutor

Certified Tutor

My teaching experiences have been defined by a commitment to engaging students in critical thinking, problem solving and a lasting desire for learning. Teaching is the ability to demonstrate a new skill to another person. Both the teacher and students grow in knowledge. Teaching can be joyful, enriching and challenging. Teaching gives me the opportunity to convey important information that can be used regularly or applied in the environment. As a teacher, I hope to build a strong foundation of learning in my students.
My primary goal as an educator is to promote a learning environment for students. My role in the classroom or laboratory is to engage, assess and encourage students to participate actively in class, to listen and think critically, to challenge them to ask questions and to motivate growth in them. I focus on creating a classroom environment where all students are included, addressing different learning styles and ensuring all students have accessibility to become successful.
I have gained some professional training in science communication class and scientist teaching science course to assist me in effective teaching of students. In addition, my approach to teaching in classroom is through active involvement of all the students. When I was an adjunct assistant professor at the city university in a general chemistry laboratory course, I observed that the students worked effectively when the experiments were being demonstrated before they began the experiments. During the demonstrations, I tried to make sure that each step was properly understood. Engaging the students during class by asking questions gave them the opportunity to participate actively. Students that are active learners learn more when compared to passive students, it is important to include every student in the classroom and laboratory. Also, I took some time to learn all the student's names to encourage full class participation, treating each student as an individual. I want the students to look forward to the next class with high expectations and passion to learn new material.
I believe in visual representation, creating a model to make it easier for the student to learn. For example, when discussing Lewis structure (e.g. CH4), I created an actual ball-and-stick model of the methane molecule, so that the students can visually see that the shape of the molecule is tetrahedral and the C-H bonding. Also, encouraging group work in a class or laboratory setting improves leadership skills in the students. Students worked in groups for class assignments, providing them the opportunity to build on leadership and team working skills. I am dedicated to making sure my students are successful in the classroom, and they feel enthusiasm for the subject. In teaching, I hope to instill the passion of learning in my students by sharing my passion in the subject. In the future, I plan to build upon my teaching strategies and skills by attending workshops and taking advantage of chances to teach when possible. It is important to engage the students. Also, incorporating the Bloom's Taxonomy for writing objective, which will show how learning is demonstrated through knowledge, understanding, application, evaluation and synthesis. In addition to my teaching responsibilities, I have conducted workshops, seminars and brown-bag lunches to support development for students and my colleagues' covering topics in research and teaching areas.
I can teach general, inorganic, analytical chemistry, environmental science and organic chemistry with their labs at both the undergraduate and graduate level. If an online course is suggested, I can create an online course for these courses. In 2015, majority of students are gearing towards online teaching (STS Class 2, page 7). As an online instructor, many students and professional are using online study. I plan to use online digital learning objectives to help the students understand, apply, analyze and evaluate the course material.