Tianna: St. John tutor
Certified Tutor
I am an Education Specialist-Education Administration and Leadership Candidate at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. I am a graduate of both the George Washington University and Howard University, where I earned a Master's Degree in Special Education and a Bachelors of Science-Biology, respectively. I have nine years of experience teaching special education. My role as a special educator has strengthened my commitment to promoting child and family advocacy, and to providing quality instruction to students with varying intellectual abilities and backgrounds.
I am currently a special education teacher at Thomas Edison High School. During my five year tenure at Edison I have worked as a Geometry, Biology, and Chemistry teacher in both team-taught and self-contained settings. As a special education teacher I am a case manager for thirteen high school students, and my responsibilities include writing IEPs, scheduling, and acting as a parent-teacher liaison. Additionally, I am the principal designee for IEP meetings when the special education chair is unable to attend. To further engage the school community I worked as a class sponsor for three years. As a class sponsor I mentored student leaders by fostering college preparation skills through activities related to organization and planning.
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Undergraduate Degree: Howard University - Bachelors, Biology, General
Graduate Degree: George Washington University - Masters, Special Education
Visiting Museums, Watching Movies, Traveling, Reading, Bowling
What is your teaching philosophy?
All students are able to learn. We must allow students to lead instruction, and as educators we are there to provide assistance.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
A typical first session would begin with an introduction and discussion of learning styles.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
To create independent students, you must constantly praise them when they are performing well and praise them even when their answer may be incorrect BUT you found something they did correct within the problem. This is in addition to providing the skills and steps needed for them to perform.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
Consistent praise, and provide the students with a variety of questions on Bloom's.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Break the skill down into its simplest form, and then build upon those skills gradually.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
Provide students with guided questions to help them answer those types of questions.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Direct instruction Modeling
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Connect the topic to a real-world application.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Modeling Step-by-step directions
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Identify what students know in that particular subject so they can see how much they know rather than be told what they don't know.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
Observation.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
I give individualized tutoring, so I make adjustments based on student request and what I observe the student's need to be.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
Manipulatives and what every subject content specifically supplies.