What is your teaching philosophy?

"Twenty men crossing a bridge, Into a village, Are twenty men crossing twenty bridges, Into twenty villages"? Metaphors of a Magnifico By Wallace Stevens. My favorite quote has become a world view to me over the past twenty-five years. I have considered teaching a way of discovering the men, bridges, and villages that populate the world around me. Through my teaching of writing, as well as my own writing and reading, I delve into the hearts of many different souls, each with a perspective that I do not have. My purpose in teaching writing, speaking, acting, literature, and humanities is to draw that individual perspective out of each student who comes to me to learn. Writing, as well as acting and public speaking, allows the quiet -- the sky -- a voice. That voice needs to be heard, for it is through hearing all of the voices around us that we can truly begin to understand the variety and beauty that surrounds us every day. This philosophy of education has been honed over many years of writing, acting, and teaching. Through my own writing and performances, I have gained insights into my own soul: my own likes and dislikes, my own dreams and perspectives. Through teaching, I have learned many things I never would have thought to know: how to field-dress a deer, how to make sushi, what worries a sixteen-year-old girl who feels alone in a school with hundreds of other sixteen-year-old girls, what a young boy believes science will one day discover, and why one man's family may be different than the "norm," but is still a loving, nurturing group. In my teaching, I do a lot of modeling, understanding that sometimes students need guides to follow on the way to self-expression. So I show them my soul a bit to encourage a little revelation from their lives. To sum up: I believe education is the exploration for, finding of, and expression of old and new ideas. We learn from each other and those who came before us. Education teaches us to become active, thinking members of society -- acting and reacting, observing and contemplating, learning and teaching. We, as teachers, also learn from our charges, as we try to teach and lead them. And, for me, that is the greatest thing about teaching. Terry D. Barkley

What might you do in a typical first session with a student?

Get to know the student. Find out how they learn best. Find some common ground in knowledge, and then focus on the troubled areas.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

By asking them to work on answers Socratically (getting the students to discover the answers themselves).

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Usually, repeated practice is helpful, as well as having the student work up their own tests and looking at the problem from all sides.

How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?

Have them start writing a reading journal; one in which the student writes down the questions they have with the material as they read. They then can focus on finding meaning to those questions.

What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?

Getting to know them as people. Again, finding out how they best learn.

How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?

Show how what they are learning impacts real life.

What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?

Constant checks for understanding, as well as independent study.

How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?

Let them lead discussions, with myself as facilitator.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

Through observation and questioning them on what is causing their difficulty.

How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?

It depends on how a student learns: visual learners may need to do artwork to help visualize information, while kinetic learners may need to act out a scene to understand it.

What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?

It depends on what the subject is. I will always have a notepad and computer.