My Dad imparted the love of learning to me, and I to my kids when they were little. We read together, and I made up stories for them. When I became a teacher, I wanted my students to have that love of learning too. It didn't matter which class, math, science, English, history, my goal was to have the students have fun and enjoy being in school. To do that, they have to want to learn. When I taught Newton's Laws of Motion to my 8th graders, I used the Road Runner and Coyote cartoons, because much of their actions followed one law or another. It was fun, and the students really got into identifying each law shown. After years of working in customer service and construction, I realized I was missing what I really wanted to do - teach. So I went back to school (New Mexico Highlands University) and earned my B.A. in English and my Teaching Certificate. But that wasn't quite enough, as I didn't want to limit myself and what I could teach. I took the Praxis test, which tests your knowledge on other subjects to see if you could teach them, and passed them all; I was then able to teach all elementary and middle school subjects, as well as high school English. While I didn't teach high school, I taught all the other subjects in middle school, and they're also the subjects I will tutor. My favorite, though, is writing, whether the student is doing creative writing, or a term paper, or expository writing, it's all writing to me, and I love it. I learn so much from them, and enjoy helping them improve their writing skills. If you are wondering what my teaching philosophy is, it's getting students to think--think through the problem, think about what you're writing, think about the moon and stars, or think about why something happened in history. To learn is to think, and to think is to see the possibilities in learning. One is never too old to learn, and I'm a prime example of that. When I'm not teaching/tutoring, I'm sometimes writing poetry or stories. Other times I'll be taking a long walk, or hike trails, and with winter approaching, I'm hoping to get some ice skating in. I enjoy sports, playing and watching, and I like watching a good movie.

Just a list of some (in no particular order): Astronomy Writing (Poems and Stories) Hiking/Walking Kayaking Reading History Music (listening, learning guitar and piano) Sports (Playing and Watching) more...