"I Write, Therefore I Am" Tutoring
About
I currently work as a Dean of Students for an all-male charter school in Bradenton, Florida. I received my Bachelors of Arts in 2014 from Hampden-Sydney College, a small liberal arts college in Virginia. My majors were in English, Rhetoric, and Spanish. I graduated with Summa Cum Laude honors and second in my class. For three years, I worked at Hampden-Sydney as a writing center tutor. In that role, I helped many young men with writing assignments that ranged from literary criticism responses, research papers, thesis papers, application essays, and creative writing assignments, among other things. A number of the students I tutored became faithful "customers" and came to visit me often because as they put it, I was very good at helping them find their "literary voice."
Some other experiences relevant to my background include participation and presentation in the Men's Studies Conference on two different occasions. I was part of a Masculinity Studies Group at my school and did an extensive amount of research on that topic. In fact, it was that interest in Men's Studies and Masculinities that led me to working at an all-male school.
In my last year of college, I was recognized for having the best thesis in the English department. I also received the Shelley A. Marshall Short Story Award for a story I wrote titled "A Good Son is Hard to Find." Though my expertise is in writing essays, I also have a background in writing fiction, including short stories, and poetry.
Professionally, I worked as a fourth grade teacher at Visible Men Academy for three years. Since students at this grade level must take the writing FSA test, I became very familiar with the testing formats and developed my own strategies to equip students with the tools to become not only great writers, but also great communicators.
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Frequently asked questions
What is your typical process for working with a new student?
Before working with a new student, I like to know what kind of tutoring help is being sought by the customer or parent. Depending on the nature of the assignment, or help that is needed, I like to have the student read the assignment or task, and give me an idea of what they understood from reading said assignment/task. We discuss the writing process and what that looks like, and I model each step of the process. Typically, I resort to using analogies to writing. It helps writers to have images they can use to relate to writing. Some of my go-to authors whose expert texts I like to use as examples of good writing include John Stuart Mill, E.B. White, George Orwell, among others.
Because I am a soccer coach and a teacher/educator, I understand the important of building and developing a relationship with the student. This means taking the time to know the student as an individual, getting some insights into who he/she is both at school and at home, and learning about his/her school experiences to get a sense of what, if any, resistance there might be on the student's end to writing.
When I have guided the student through the writing process and he/she has made revisions/edits to his/her writing, I love to have him/her read the paper out loud and vice versa. This technique has proven to be very effective, in my opinion, in helping students understand not just the tone of their paper, but also the flow.
Lastly, I like to spend time--particulary when it comes to essays--not just on the micro or macrostructure of the writing itself, whether it's looking at sentence structure or looking at ways to improve the introduction and conclusion parts, but also on stylistic features. By this, I'm referring to the use of emphasis by using different kinds of punctuation, wording, etc.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
Bachelor of Arts in English, Rhetoric, and Spanish
Do you have a standard pricing system for your lessons? If so, please share the details here.
My standard pricing system is $50 per hour if its during the week, or $75 per every two hours if its on the weekend.
What types of students have you worked with?
I've worked with all kinds of students and all ages. From young men who currently attend college to school age children learning to write informative or opinion essays.