I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Psychology from the University of Toronto at Mississauga, Canada, and a Diploma in Teacher Aide from Penn Foster Online Career School.
I am very passionate about teaching and learning. During my years as an undergraduate in Canada and while living and working in other locations -- Moncton, Canada, and Beijing, China, I tutored people of various ages in English as a Second Language.
After obtaining my Diploma as a Teacher Aide, I assisted teachers and students in New Jersey public schools at all grade levels, as assigned. I demonstrated patience and flexibility since grade level assignments changed frequently, especially in my most recent public school job in Hoboken, New Jersey.
I am especially drawn to the enthusiasm many elementary school students have for learning, based on my experience, and I especially enjoy helping them learn to read, or to read better. I am very passionate about English Language Arts and also about helping non-native speakers improve their English Language communication skills. At this point, I would like to focus on helping elementary school students, especially early elementary grade levels, learn or improve their reading skills and to grasp and appreciate English Language Arts better in general. I have always been a strong English Language Arts student and have always enjoyed this subject.
Learning to communicate effectively is very important in life. Creativity and empathy are also important traits in life. Literary selections, such as novels, short stories, and poems, can help students develop or enhance these qualities. I have always enjoyed reading, and I would like to inculcate that passion in my students.
As a firm believer in the importance of education and as someone who is dedicated to the profession, I strive to make tutoring a positive and enriching experience for students. I would like my students to enjoy learning for the sake of learning, and to therefore go beyond using it as a means to completing school assignments and/or passing tests and examinations. I strive to make my lessons engaging for my students by interspersing my instruction with educational and fun videos if allowed to do so. For example, when I tutored a former student in between remote Kindergarten sessions in sight words, I also showed her YouTube videos of Jack Hartmann singing songs about the sight words my student was learning.
In my spare time, I enjoy reading, dancing, cooking, going for walks, swimming, and travel, amongst other creative interests. I recently relocated from New Jersey to Arizona, and my husband and I especially enjoy exploring the outdoors here.