Amanda

I almost accidentally fell into education--I always thought I would use my English Lit degree to do something like editing for a publishing company (which I have done!) or writing my own novels (which I am currently working on!). I ended up substitute teaching in Florida for a few months and I found out that I was pretty good at it! There's a satisfaction that comes out of working with students, either in a large classroom setting or personally one-on-one and watching them learn new concepts or master old ones that is so satisfying. Since moving to Chicago in 2014, I've worked exclusively with three South Side Elementary schools. I have experience working with kids from Pre-K all the way up to 12th grade, but during my long-term positions, I've mainly taught Middle School division age kids (6th-8th). While I've worked in all subject fields (and a lot of Math!), my greatest passion is English and Literature. I love reading, it's probably what I spend the most time doing. I also love writing; be it fictional composition, analytical non-fiction based on books or academic essays, or personal non-fiction essays, I love all of it. I also find myself driven to help those struggling with composition or reading find if not a love, then an appreciation for the subject that can help them later on in life. My degree is in English Literature, and I've taken countless classes in genre and strategy-specific survey. I can analyze like the best of them, and it's my goal to help students do it too. In high school I took ten AP or Dual Enrollment classes between three years, so I understand the structure of the tests as well as how hard it is to juggle college course load on top of high school course load. My approach to teaching is to engage, engage, engage! I don't want to just lecture to a glassy-eyed student for an hour. That's a waste of their time as well as mine. And I understand that as a student getting tutoring, you're going above and beyond your classmates when it comes to time spent engaging with Education. That's a hard thing to concentrate on! I want to make it fun and challenging, but not hard and boring. I want you to learn, to further yourself, to become the student YOU want to be. My goal isn't to bog you down with extra work, it's to lift you up to new heights of understanding. I hope I have the opportunity to serve you, the students, and make a positive impact on this city that I've grown to love.

Reading, writing, music, art, history, museums, science fiction, television, movies