Barbara-Jean M: Woodstock tutor

Certified Tutor

I graduated with a BS Ed in English from Miami University of Ohio with an emphasis on teaching English as well as a focus on speech and theatre. I then completed an MA in English at the University of Notre Dame. My focus there was split between teaching writing and reading, and in my teaching career, I have concentrated on those areas. That meant that we focused on grasping the main idea, understanding the supporting points, and identifying the climax along with the action leading up to and away from it. My last years of teaching at the high school level I developed an Advanced Composition class to help my students prepare for college and the English classes they would face there. I faced a tremendous amount of opposition from the department chair, who did not believe in teaching writing. Luckily, the principal and assistant principal believed very strongly in the class and supported me. My students came back the following year to tell the school how well-prepared they were for Freshman English in college and to thank me and the school. However, I decided that I wanted to go in a different direction after all the opposition I'd faced from the department chair, and I entered Xavier University's MBA program in the fall. Because I did not have an undergraduate business degree, I had to take prerequisites the first year of my program, but at the end of my second year, I had earned an MBA in Management and Marketing. I received a scholarship for my first year at Xavier and a graduate assistantship my second year, and I started working at a local tutoring agency, where I taught writing, grammar, reading comprehension, reading mechanics, math up through algebra, and test preparation. I am especially passionate about teaching writing, since I believe that we can not survive without being able to communicate clearly in both written and oral forms, and reading since there are too many people in this country who do not read well and need help to comprehend what they've read. I've had good success teaching several adults how to read, one of whom went on to finish nursing school and become an RN. I've continued to tutor in my spare time because I love working one-on-one with students and seeing them progress and react joyfully as they achieve each goal. In the remainder of my spare time, I enjoy reading mysteries since I like having a story where usually everything works out in the end, crocheting, baking, cooking, and playing with my two dogs.