About Me

**IMPORTANT: Please confirm any session that you and I book on your Varsity Tutors calendar before we meet. This is very important: I can only accept confirmed appointments. Again, if your appointment reads "unconfirmed," please confirm it before our meeting time. Email me if you have any questions.** Subjects I tutor: English/Language Arts (almost anything that qualifies under that umbrella, ranging from Kindergarten to college level). Degrees attained: Doctorate in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.), Masters in Education (M.Ed.)., B.A. in English. State-certified teacher. Nearly twenty years' teaching experience. Favorite subject: Writing. I love all things reading and writing. If you have questions, please feel free to message me. I'm eager to meet with you! Personal statement: No matter how you currently view your situation in school, a great teacher can help beyond far more than just improving your grades. They can change your worldview. I should know. While I loved school as a kid, I had several terrible experiences in my early teenage years that left me feeling totally disconnected with everything education-related. A change in schools, and getting connected with some amazing teachers, turned things around for me. I started doing well in school again. I generally began to care about what I studied. It took words of encouragement from a few teachers who didn't accept anything less than my best work. I worked exhaustively, slowly beginning to understand that a bad experience or two did not make me a failure. I loved reading and writing, but never viewed it as more than a passing interest. It took a teacher to get me to care. Now I write professionally. I became an English major in undergrad. I now have a Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership with a cognate in Student Development. I am also a Washington State-certified teacher that I received alongside an M.A. in Education (2006), educated and experienced in instructing both pre-college and postsecondary students according to various program- and state-based standards. That means not only can I teach you English and Language Arts, but I can advise you for college, teach you study skills, and help you prepare a plan to graduate and manage your coursework. I learned how to teach reading when I went for my Masters in Education, so I can work with you if you're having difficulty reading as well. In terms of English, Language Arts, or writing, I'm certified to handle almost anything along those lines from Kindergarten to college. And if, for whatever reason, I can't help you with your problem, we'll figure out something together. Point being, I didn't learn any of this by my lonesome. Someone had to show me that I wasn't a failure and help me see my own potential. That is exactly what I want for you to actualize your potential. I want you navigating school successfully and learning to love English, and reading, and books, because once you learn to love a subject in school, your entire world will change. English, or math, or science, or whatever you find appealing, can become a building block for your personal interests or career. You may produce a great work of art someday, or save someone's life due to your communication skills. My goal is to help you to see it as possible within you. You'll have to work hard. That's our agreement from day one: if you want to improve at anything, you must be willing to work for it. But tutoring is different from a traditional classroom because you are both the student and customer. It'll take up to two sessions for me to assess your situation in school, your learning needs, and what you hope to achieve from this experience. Do you simply want to improve your grades, or can improving your writing skills benefit you elsewhere? We'll also do a root cause analysis of why you might be struggling, if that's the case. If a subject in school is giving you trouble, our goal is to work together to determine what exactly is causing the problem for you before we treat it. After I assess your learning needs, and I get an idea of exactly what you want from your learning experience, I'll prepare a treatment plan based on my understanding of what could help you improve. We won't begin a single lesson until you and your parent/legal guardian approve of the plan. The beauty of tutoring is that it's all about your needs, your interests, your learning style. You don't have twenty other students who all need the same help--the appointment is entirely yours. Contact me and let's set up an appointment. I'm excited to speak with you.

Education & Certifications