Alyssa
Certified Tutor
I have a Masters in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and more than 6 years teaching experience. I have taught English, Literacy, Humanities and Social Studies/History at the Middle School/Secondary Level. Some of my strengths are getting to know my students, identifying their strengths and weaknesses, and leveraging their interests in order to motivate them and build confidence. I hold very high expectations, but I always take the time to figure out what kinds of strategies and supports students need to be successful. I strongly believe in helping students develop a growth mindset, which they can take into any educational experience. I have been teaching in the DC area for 3 years, and understand the demands of the Common Core Standards, PARCC, SAT and other exams. I am familiar with ELA and history content at both the middle and high school level, and I also enjoy teaching and reinforcing basic skills, especially in writing.
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Undergraduate Degree: Trinity College, Hartford CT - Bachelor in Arts, International Studies, Spanish
Graduate Degree: Harvard Graduate School of Eduction - Unknown, Urban Education, Social Studies
- SAT Composite (1600 scale): 1450
- SAT Math: 740
- SAT Verbal: 710
Cooking, exercise and dance, travel, reading.
- 10th Grade Reading
- 10th Grade Writing
- 6th Grade
- 6th Grade Reading
- 6th Grade Writing
- 7th Grade
- 7th Grade Reading
- 7th Grade Writing
- 8th Grade
- 8th Grade Reading
- 8th Grade Writing
- 9th Grade Reading
- 9th Grade Writing
- Adult Literacy
- College Geography
- College Level American History
- College World History
- Comparative Literature
- Elementary School
- Elementary School Reading
- Elementary School Writing
- English Grammar and Syntax
- Essay Editing
- Geography
- High School English
- High School Geography
- High School Level American History
- High School World History
- High School Writing
- History
- Latin America History
- Literature
- Middle School
- Middle School Reading
- Middle School Writing
- PARCC Prep
- Reading
- SAT Writing and Language
- Social Studies
- Study Skills and Organization
- Summer
- The Modern World
- World Civilization
- World History
- World Religions
- Writing
What is your teaching philosophy?
I believe in creating authentic curriculum that allows students to tackle real world problems and challenges. I find that students are more engaged and motivated when they are doing rigorous and authentic work, and they often come up with some creative and unique ideas! I believe that all students have the ability to learn and that developing a growth mindset is one of the most important components of education.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Get to know my student and talk to them about the content and skills that they have been learning. Allow them to really explain their strengths and weaknesses in their own words. Help identify goals for tutoring together with the student. Ask them to show me some of their work, so I can put together a plan for this specific student.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
Identify what motivates this particular student. Bring passion to the content. Help a student with organization, planning, and study skills. Build a student's' confidence.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Identify why this student is struggling. Provide multiple opportunities to practice. Create some scaffolds to help them master the skill step by step. Allow a student to show understanding in a way that is comfortable for him/her first. Celebrate each success.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Connect the content to the student him/herself or his/her interests. Spend time talking about the content in a more informal way and allow him or her to investigate it in new ways. Provide opportunities for success in order to build confidence.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Discussion, writing and reflection, quizzes, ask him/her to teach it to another person.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
Talk to the student, look at the student's work and organization, provide a pre-evaluation.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
Tutoring will always be based on a particular student's needs, which is the beauty of it. Therefore, we can move at a pace that works for the student and use scaffolds that address their strengths and challenges.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
Making sure that a student experiences success and builds confidence in the subject area. Giving students an element of choice during sessions.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
Identify the cause of the struggle: engagement, phonics and oral reading, basic or inferential comprehension. I will provide opportunities for students to practice the discrete skill, as well as identify text at the student's level to read and discuss. I will also provide opportunities for the student and I to read aloud with a more challenging text. I will give multiple opportunities for the student to talk about what they read, as well as answer questions in a written format. I will continue to assess the student's progress.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Getting to know the student, talking about his/her relationship with school. Talking about a student's strengths and challenges. Setting up norms and expectations for tutoring sessions.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Provide scaffolds that allow a student to experience small successes and be willing to take risks. Help a student develop a growth mindset so they are not afraid to be a beginner in a specific subject or skill. Build stamina and perseverance.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
Depends on the student's needs. Work a student is completing in their class. Texts, along with questions and materials for writing. Any graphic organizers, vocabulary, or scaffolds I have created.