Azania

Certified Tutor

It truly takes a combination of skills or attributes to be an outstanding teacher. An outstanding teacher distinguishes themselves by the high expectations they set from the beginning, which includes creating a safe, inviting classroom environment and establishing a
respectful class culture. They serve as the subject matter expert for their field, the "go-to" person for students, peers and administration. In addition, they don't limit themselves to just their subject, but are constantly learning on a variety of subjects. They are demanding and motivating at the same time. They take the time to know their students. They make learning fun and encourage students to solve problems in new and creative ways. I believe that in order for learning to be meaningful, subject matter needs to be associated with learners' individual and collective experiences. Genuine artistic expression comes from inside the student, at times person, at other times in reaction to the surrounding socio-cultural context. To address a wide range of skills and abilities in my classroom, I differentiate instruction to accommodate the needs of students whether it is in the materials used, the student grouping, a longer response time, or the feedback I give my students. Students who are higher level, I dialogue with them and provide them the opportunity to self-critique their project and explain how they could improve or further develop it. I also allow them to work with other students who may be having a harder time grasping the objective.

I am very interested in being a tutor and have extensive experience and skills relevant to this position. I was an EC-12 Art candidate in Region 20's alternative certification program, TOPP, Teacher Orientation and Preparation Program and completed my internship in 2008. I am a certified teacher, qualified to teach all level Art, and taught at Losoya Intermediate, for seven and a half years. My third year, It was American History, where I viewed and interacted with art firsthand. I visited museums like the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture
Garden, the Freer Gallery of Art, the National Portrait Gallery and saw the artwork I had only read about in textbooks. I was the Art and Graphic Design Teacher at Milton B. Lee Academy for one year. My students' work was featured twice in The Southside Reporter and on the Southside ISD homepage. I developed and honed a broad range of leadership skills as a Human Resources professional for the United States Army. I was also hand selected by my supervisor's supervisor to coordinate the company's community service project which consisted of 15 personnel tutoring and mentoring secondary school students, achieving laudatory comments from the school site coordinator.