Carla: Montreal tutor
Certified Tutor
I am a graduate of Wenatchee Valley Community College and Heritage University, in Washington State, where I completed a degree in Education (K-8), and teaching endorsements in Biology (4-12); and in Reading (K-12) through Gonzaga University. I continued my education earning a Masters in Science/Science Education at Montana State University (Bozeman), and a Master’s in Special Education at Washington State University. I have been a teacher of Science and Mathematics, in junior (middle) and high school, and have specialized in classroom tutoring of Mathematics (HQ-highly qualified) and Reading since 1997. I love to understand something I have struggled to comprehend, and so I enjoy tutoring students to achieve a breakthrough in understanding and accomplishment. As I learn best in a visual and hands-on format this is my teaching style as well. Prior to becoming a teacher I was a business owner and licensed contractor producing rock and gravel and building roads. I am an enthusiastic proponent of Education – my own and others – Education improves our own skills and also increases what we offer to others. Aside from teaching and learning I enjoy outdoor recreation – bicycling, pickle ball, swimming and sculling (rowing a long slender craft with very long oars), attending baseball games with family, and a sociable game of chess.
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Undergraduate Degree: Heritage University - Bachelor in Arts, Education
Graduate Degree: Montana State, Bozeman; Washington State University - Masters, Master's Science Education; and Master's Special Education
Family; reading/writing, singing; travel, art and architecture, mining and minerals; and outdoor recreation: bicycling, hiking, swimming, sculling (rowing).
- Arithmetic
- Earth Science
- Elementary Math
- Elementary School Math
- GED Prep
- Geometry
- Life Sciences
- Math
- Middle School Math
- Other
- Pre-Algebra
- Science
- Special Education
- Test Prep
What is your teaching philosophy?
Understanding is a challenge met by mutual engagement - learning together is fun. The world offers so much to know and time to learn!
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Listen to the student's needs. Look together at the challenge. Discuss the background. Strategize the problems; share the mantras. Work together. Demonstrate. Coach to independence.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
Step by step. Demonstrate, explain, elucidate (history, story, rationale, strategy). Coach student action. Support to mastery.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
Encourage. Reflect on were we started and what understandings have been gained. Support individual practice to mastery.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Commiserate. Tell a relevant story - about the history of the concept, a biography of a relevant discovery, etc. - Eureka! Work together to understanding and mastery.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
Discuss context. Discuss Latin derivations. Discuss print. Scaffold to known concepts. Model and teach reading strategies: Question the text; search the text for meaning.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Introduce myself; share my learning challenges and useful learning strategies. Inquire about the student. Discuss student's learning challenges. Reassure the student. Work together, learn together.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Discuss the material. Pose authentic questions. Listen carefully to the student's response and seek explanation, justification, extrapolation. Scaffold the content to the student's experiences and prior knowledge.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Link the content to current events, common knowledge, and practical uses. Encourage the student to use terminology and pronounce and use technical words. Familiarize.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
Seek the student's input into his/her needs. Observe the student's work in context of assignments and instruction. Reassess new understandings and challenges with the student at the beginning of each session.