Bjoern: Central City tutor
Certified Tutor
I am originally from Germany and moved to San Diego in 2015. In Germany I studied Sports Science, English (English as a Second Language)and Educational Science. I have successfully received my German State Examination, which is equivalent to a Master's Degree at American universities, in all three fields of study mentioned above (University Degree with Distinction).
After that I have worked as an English (ESL) as well as Physical Education teacher at German secondary schools for over 7 years, teaching students grades 5 through 12. On top of that, I was responsible for organizing a school exchange with a Chinese high school and also to accompany the group of German students on a 2-week-trip to China. With all that being said, I love teaching and offering as many opportunities as possible to students to gain experience that they can use in real life.
As a teacher at secondary schools, it is often challenging to keep track of the needs of every single student in the classroom. Yet, the rigorous education at German university to become a teacher has supplied me with a range of teaching methods and strategies and thus I have been able to recognize specific needs in students and to implement appropriate lesson plans that take into account their individual learning speed, learning channel as well as their strengths and weaknesses.
Tutoring students on a one-on-one basis helps even more to pick up the student where they are, in other words to find out their individual skill level and build from there.
As mentioned earlier, I enjoy helping students to achieve success and to overcome problems in a fun, creative and sustainable way.
In my free-time, I love being active and spending time outdoors, especially enjoying endurance sports.
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Undergraduate Degree: University of the Saarland - Bachelors, Sports Science, English (English as a Foreign Language), Educational Science
Graduate Degree: University of the Saarland - Masters, Sports Science, English (English as a Foreign Language), Educational Science
Running, Swimming, Cycling, Triathlon, Surfing, Hiking, Outdoors, Team Sports, Languages, Cultures and Costums
- AP German Language and Culture
- College English
- Conversational German
- English
- ESL/ELL
- Essay Editing
- German
- German 1
- German 2
- German 3
- German 4
- High School English
- Languages
- Reading
- Test Prep
- TOEFL Prep
- Writing
What is your teaching philosophy?
My teaching philosophy is to pick up students where they are - know their strengths as well as weaknesses, and design lessons that are appropriate for their specific needs.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
I will find out more about the students, his or her goals, his or her expectations, and I will make sure they leave the session with a first accomplishment and positive experience.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
It is important to teach students strategies of how to tackle all kinds of problems so that they improve their self-efficacy.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
Motivation is a result of lessons that are fun, diverse and show real improvement.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
I would try to use different learning channels, such as visual or auditory, as well as using real-life examples to render the concept less abstract.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
We are breaking down the text into smaller units, analyzing the text bit by bit. We are employing strategies, such as from broad understanding to detail.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
It is important to build rapport with a client and to find out what kind of learner the student is in order to be able to design lessons that are appropriate.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
I would try to find analogies between the subject and their daily life in order to increase the meaning of that subject for their personal context.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
I would include a lot of occasions for the student to implement his or her newly acquired knowledge and to transfer theoretical knowledge into practical contexts.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
By creating a sense of achievement.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
By closely observing his or her work and by talking about their experience in the specific field of study.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
By designing lesson plans that are appropriate for their skill level, age, learner's type and experience.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
That depends on the topic, anything ranging from written texts, music, pictures, audio material, online links, videos, gapped texts...