Cool Cat Tutoring

I would spend some time with them and the parent/guardian to get to know them and their learning style. I may even have them take an assessment, so I could better understand what their style(s) are, and I would work with the adult to form a best practices strategy for our sessions. My notes would include personality traits as well as academic strengths and areas for improvement.

I have worked in several tutoring/mentoring areas that include the following:

Title: Graduate Teaching Assistant
Company/Organization: University of Arizona’s Department of English
Category: Teaching/Teacher’s Protégé
From: Spring 2012 semester
Responsibilities: Creating and leading study groups, assisting students with writing required essays, observing the grading process of faculty mentor, managing course website, promoting discussion related to the course material through social media – such as Facebook and YouTube. Visit the course site @ http://engl431b.wordpress.com/

Title: Lead mentor
Company/Organization: University of Arizona (Dow Jones Diversity in Journalism Workshop for Arizona High School Students)
Category: Tutoring/mentoring
From: 2007-2011
Responsibilities: Help high school students put together a news product (both print and on-line editions).

Title: Einstein Protégé
Company/Organization: University of Arizona
Category: Tutoring/mentoring
From: January thru May 2007
Responsibilities: Assisted peers in a general education course. Also led a study team and received training by the Teaching Teams Program.

Title: Supervisor/teacher’s aide
Company/Organization: D.W. Higgins Charter School
Category: Tutoring/mentoring
Duration: One week (2006)
Responsibilities: Aided teachers with kindergarten, elementary and middle school students (some with learning challenges) in general studies.

Title: Member
Company/Organization: Future Teachers Club
Category: Activities/societies
Duration: December 2011 – Present
Responsibilities: Attending meetings that prepare future teachers with their eventual teaching expedition. The club prepares students for applications, interviews, leadership skills and helpful classroom tips that are so important in the development of quality teachers. By bringing in distinguished teachers and administrators from the Tucson area, the club is further integrated into the teaching community and more acquainted with the situations surrounding us in the educational community. The club also provides tutoring services at Menlo Park Elementary School. Menlo Park is classified as an “underperforming” school largely serving underprivileged children. Members work directly with youngsters in computer technology as well as in math and reading. Members also assist each other as they step out into the teaching world.

Title: Note taker
Company/Organization: University of Arizona – Disability Resource Center
Category: Volunteer
Duration: One semester
Responsibilities: Took notes for a general education course and sent the notes daily to the Disability Resource Center so they could pass them along to students in the course with special needs.

I do not have a standard pricing system for my lessons. I would customize them for each family's needs. I could structure the fee schedule to be a per session cash payment or we might be able to work out a cheaper weekly or monthly rate. I am flexible on pay and am willing to discuss this before tutoring begins.

I got started because when I was in high school, I trained my Cousin how to throw a frisbee and my Grandmother had commented about how patient I was with her and how good a teacher I might make in the future. As I entered college I was between a few ideas for what to study that included Journalism and Education. I chose Journalism, but soon after graduating I began covering the education beat and was a lead mentor for a high school Journalism camp in Tucson. I then wanted to pursue a path toward becoming a teacher or mentor/tutor. Life and work took me in another direction briefly, but I would like to return to one of my professional passions.

I have worked with students from Title I Schools (which provides financial assistance to local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards.) These students may not have the same opportunities originally as others, but because of the nonprofit I work with, they are afforded the opportunity to attend Ivy League schools and succeed in life beyond. I have also worked with University of Arizona undergraduate and graduate students.

One event includes a time when a young man told the director of the nonprofit that he needed help with some English homework. It was a poetry assignment. The director suggested he ask me for help. I had not spoken to this young man much before as he was part of the robotics program and I was mostly helping with the administrative tasks (at that time) with the organization. We instantly developed a solid rapport and I helped him not only crush his assignment but made it fun and suggested he inject a bit of Spanish (since he's bi-lingual) and it would add character to the poem.

I would make sure a tutor knows their stuff, makes learning fun and easy. And most importantly, I would make sure the tutor is someone you can count on for giving you the right answers and explaining it in a way that relates to what you're learning.

I think students should spend some time thinking about what questions they already know the answers to, so they don't get in the habit of just asking their teachers to provide them with information they have or could obtain on their own. There is something to be said for a student being able to grasp the necessary information themselves. They become an independent learner and develop a sense of ownership for their education.