Ellie

Certified Tutor

Every challenge can be surmounted given the right support! Having the right tools and equipment is essential for doing any job. You wouldn't build a house without blueprints, you wouldn't run track without good shoes, yet we as teachers frequently send students home in these untenable situations. We ask students to complete a project without a full understanding of the process or a clear plan of execution. As a tutor with decades of classroom teaching experience I can help students interpret muddy instructions, bridge gaps of understanding and help relieve the frustration of unfair expectations. The secret to school is that students have to teach themselves! Teachers present information in a certain order with exercises to practice and internalize concepts, but fundamentally the students have to interpret and understand what is presented and ultimately give it meaning.
Now, here's the gooey personal information: I have B.M. degrees in viola performance and music education from St. Olaf College. Had I not been burned out and desperate to be done with college, I would have completed minors in philosophy and American multicultural studies.
As for the rest of my life, I am a co-founder of Hopewell Music, a non-profit music school where I teach and coordinate school music programs. When not teaching or working in the music education world, I work for Hollywood Pyrotechnics offering fireworks displays around the midwest. At home, my 4 cats are generous enough to share their house with myself and my family.