Alyssa
Certified Tutor
Undergraduate Degree: Trinity College, Hartford CT - Bachelor in Arts, International Studies, Spanish
Graduate Degree: Harvard Graduate School of Eduction - Unknown, Urban Education, Social Studies
SAT Composite (1600 scale): 1450
SAT Math: 740
SAT Verbal: 710
Cooking, exercise and dance, travel, reading.
10th Grade Reading
10th Grade Writing
6th Grade
6th Grade Reading
6th Grade Writing
7th Grade
7th Grade Reading
7th Grade Writing
8th Grade
8th Grade Reading
8th Grade Writing
9th Grade Reading
9th Grade Writing
Adult Literacy
College Geography
College Level American History
College World History
Comparative Literature
Elementary School
Elementary School Reading
Elementary School Writing
High School English
High School Geography
High School Level American History
High School World History
High School Writing
Latin America History
Middle School Reading
Middle School Writing
PARCC Prep
Study Skills and Organization
Summer
The Modern World
World Civilization
World History
What is your teaching philosophy?
I believe in creating authentic curriculum that allows students to tackle real world problems and challenges. I find that students are more engaged and motivated when they are doing rigorous and authentic work, and they often come up with some creative and unique ideas! I believe that all students have the ability to learn and that developing a growth mindset is one of the most important components of education.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Get to know my student and talk to them about the content and skills that they have been learning. Allow them to really explain their strengths and weaknesses in their own words. Help identify goals for tutoring together with the student. Ask them to show me some of their work, so I can put together a plan for this specific student.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
Identify what motivates this particular student. Bring passion to the content. Help a student with organization, planning, and study skills. Build a student's' confidence.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Identify why this student is struggling. Provide multiple opportunities to practice. Create some scaffolds to help them master the skill step by step. Allow a student to show understanding in a way that is comfortable for him/her first. Celebrate each success.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Connect the content to the student him/herself or his/her interests. Spend time talking about the content in a more informal way and allow him or her to investigate it in new ways. Provide opportunities for success in order to build confidence.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Discussion, writing and reflection, quizzes, ask him/her to teach it to another person.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
Talk to the student, look at the student's work and organization, provide a pre-evaluation.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
Tutoring will always be based on a particular student's needs, which is the beauty of it. Therefore, we can move at a pace that works for the student and use scaffolds that address their strengths and challenges.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
Making sure that a student experiences success and builds confidence in the subject area. Giving students an element of choice during sessions.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
Identify the cause of the struggle: engagement, phonics and oral reading, basic or inferential comprehension. I will provide opportunities for students to practice the discrete skill, as well as identify text at the student's level to read and discuss. I will also provide opportunities for the student and I to read aloud with a more challenging text. I will give multiple opportunities for the student to talk about what they read, as well as answer questions in a written format. I will continue to assess the student's progress.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Getting to know the student, talking about his/her relationship with school. Talking about a student's strengths and challenges. Setting up norms and expectations for tutoring sessions.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Provide scaffolds that allow a student to experience small successes and be willing to take risks. Help a student develop a growth mindset so they are not afraid to be a beginner in a specific subject or skill. Build stamina and perseverance.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
Depends on the student's needs. Work a student is completing in their class. Texts, along with questions and materials for writing. Any graphic organizers, vocabulary, or scaffolds I have created.