
Julio
Certified Tutor
Undergraduate Degree: Swarthmore College - Bachelor in Arts, Sociology & Anthropology
Graduate Degree: Brown University - Master of Arts Teaching, History/Social Studies Education
GRE Quantitative: 710
Teaching, Mentoring, Activism, Current Events, Traveling, Independent learning
10th Grade Reading
10th Grade Writing
11th Grade Reading
11th Grade Writing
12th Grade Reading
12th Grade Writing
7th Grade Reading
7th Grade Writing
8th Grade Reading
8th Grade Writing
9th Grade Reading
9th Grade Writing
Adult Literacy
College English
College Geography
College Level American History
Comparative Literature
Expository Writing
High School English
High School Geography
High School Level American History
High School Writing
Homework Support
Human Development
Middle School Reading
Middle School Writing
Other
PARCC Prep
Persuasive Writing
SAT Subject Test in United States History
SAT Subject Tests Prep
Spanish 1
Study Skills
Study Skills and Organization
Summer
Vocabulary
What is your teaching philosophy?
I believe that teaching is more than simply depositing knowledge into the memory banks of eager students. Instead, I see teaching as the thoughtful facilitation of the learning process. As a high school teacher, I strive to create an environment in which learning can happen through questions, problem solving, and inquiry rather than through rote memorization.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
In a typical first session with a student, I strive to build trust and rapport through a sharing of stories. I also try to acquire a sense of the student's abilities and interests, as this information will help me to personalize my interactions with the student.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
Through the provision of learning scaffolds (graphic organizers, guiding questions, modeling, etc.), I create a dynamic in which students utilize supports early on, and then develop their abilities in such a way that allows them to remove the supports at a pace appropriate for them.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
When it comes to improving reading comprehension, I believe in teaching explicit reading strategies as well as providing the student with different methods of retaining information. These methods may include taking annotations, completing graphic organizers, and practicing re-telling what was read to someone who is not familiar with the text.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Building trust is essential to any teaching and learning relationship. The student needs to know that I can be trusted and vice versa. This will create a productive relationship characterized by mutual trust and shared investment in learning.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
I find that relevance is important for building buy-in and excitement for a particular subject. In my lessons, I always strive to make the content relevant to the student's lived experience.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
In teaching, I employ both formative and summative assessments to get a sense of how students are doing with a particular concept. Formative assessments are more informal and can be as simple as a conversation with the student or a "warm-up" question before diving into the session's material. Summative assessments are more formal ways of diagnosing a student's progress and will often resemble traditional tests, projects, or writing assignments that one might find in a more structured learning environment.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
To build a student's confidence in a subject, I design ways for the student to activate prior learning that may be relevant as well as to demonstrate progress, no matter how small. As a facilitator of learning, I am also conscious of employing praise and constructive criticism in targeted and meaningful ways.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
I evaluate student's needs through the use of different diagnostic tools. These include informal conversations with students, practice problems, and pre- and post- assessments.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
Teaching is all about adaptation. As a high school teacher, I am trained to "differentiate," or adapt, my instruction given a certain student's skills, needs, and interests. This means that I may teach the same concept in different ways. For example, I may modify assignments based on a student's ability level or past experience with a given subject.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
I like to work primarily with the materials with which the student is already working. These materials will often include class notes, textbooks, and assignments. In addition, I will sometimes incorporate materials that I have used in my classroom or have used for my own independent learning.