Danielle Grae Tutoring

I first have a phone call with the parent to learn about the childs educational strengths and areas of desired improvement. I also like to learn about the child's interests so I can incorporate them into the lessons to make them more interesting. If the parent wants to schedule a first session, I work on classroom procedures with the child (e.g. behavior expectations) and conduct initial testing to gage exactly what skills the student has mastered, is in the process of learning, and does not know yet. If the parent wants to continue with me, I evaluate the tests and customize lessons based on the skills the student needs work on.

I got a 4.0 GPA in graduate coursework at William & Mary's School of Education in ESL and in elementary education curriculum and instruction. I was a student teacher in a kindergarten classroom for the first half of the school year, where I created and taught lesson plans to individual students, small groups, and the whole classroom in English Language Arts, Math, Science, and History.

I discuss pricing with the client on the first phone call.

I tutored my younger brother and my friends. I also volunteered in second and first grade classrooms. I enjoyed working 1-1 with students to help advance their academic skills. I considered becoming a classroom teacher, but I decided that my passion is on the 1-1 work with students, so now I work as a tutor.

I have worked with pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and fifth grade students one-on-one with a special focus on English Language Arts and Math. I also have worked with high school students on SAT prep.

I was working with a pre-k student on the alphabetical knowledge skill of recognizing the onset sound of words. After a few days of her struggling to hear the sounds, it finally clicked: she was quickly identifying the onset sound of word. She told me that her brain changed, and she was right! It was so meaningful to help a student learn this lifelong skill and enjoy the big victory on the journey to literacy.

I would advise parents to look for someone who is trained in up-to-date, research-based educational practices. For example, tutors should know how to teach the different stages of literacy through phonics. Teachers should also be trained in how to think like a child in approaching math because children qualitatively think about the world differently than adults. And teachers should also be trained and experienced in classroom management: without clear expectations and procedures, not much teaching can get done in a session. And of course, it is important to look for someone who has a passion for teaching children.

Parents can look at any work samples from the student and reports from teachers to get an idea of the students strengths and areas of desired improvement. Parents can let teachers know exactly what skills they think their child needs help in. Parents should also think about any behavioral challenges the student has experienced and let the teacher know what has/ has not worked to best motivate the student.