Our Tutors In Alaska

Andy A

Teaching Style

I am grateful that school was easy for me, but I also know that for many children the task of discovering, understanding, making sense of, and retaining information can be tough and may seem almost overwhelming. All children can learn and there is no better way to instill that desire in them, than to work one-on-one or in small groups. All subjects can be made interesting, and I feel I have a knack for making the "boring" material come alive with relevance and excitement.

Experience Summary

Upon graduating from Johns Hopkins with a degree in writing, I substitute taught full-time at the high school and the middle school levels in the small upstate New York town where I grew up. Since my days as a substitute teacher, I have worked as a freelance writer, Senior Editor at a major publishing company, Senior Copywriter at an ad agency, and attended grad school. Over the past 15 years, I have tutored a number of high school students primarily in English, social studies, paper-writing, and general test-taking strategies.

Stuart S

Teaching Style

As a product of top-notch education I feel that I have become intimately familiar with effective teaching styles and have thereby tried to replicate the best of these styles. I would describe my teaching style as adaptive because I feel a certain teaching style that works for one student may be inadequate for another student. For this reason I strive to first determine how a particular student learns and subsequently derive an action plan. For example, if a student seems to retain information from a book or other types of visual material but not from a teacher's lecture I would deem that student to be a more visual based learner. In such a scenario, I would approach the student in a visual based manner through animations, practice problems, and other visual material. On the other hand, if the student was found to be a more auditory-based learner that student may benefit from descriptive metaphors or a verbal walk through of sample problems.

Experience Summary

As a graduate of Bucknell University and the prestigious Mercersburg Academy, I gained a strong affinity for education and thereby providing quality learning experiences for others. While at the Mercersburg Academy I earned a 700 math score and a 680 verbal score on my SATs. At Bucknell I earned a bachelor's of science degree in biochemistry and cell biology while gaining extensive experience in chemistry, biology, psychology, physics, math, and scientific research. I have also gained extensive writing experience in the form of research papers, lab reports, and numerous other classes at both Bucknell and Mercersburg that required a plethora of writing. During the past year I served as an Honors and Accelerated Chemistry teacher at the esteemed Worcester Academy while tutoring biology, physics, and chemistry students during the evenings.

Veronica V

Teaching Style

I love teaching and the reward that it brings. I am a step-by-step oriented teacher. I've had many students return saying how my style of teaching continues to help them in their current studies. In my 14 years of experience, I've learned that many students learn with many different styles. I believe that every child can learn; however, the teacher must reach them at their level. If I have a good understanding of where the student is academically, I can help them to grow academically.

Experience Summary

I've taught middle school for 14 years. My goal in becoming a teacher was to reach those students who had, somehow, fallen through the cracks of education. I taught at a drop-out-prevention school for 7 years. During those years, my student scores continuously rose. I taught 7th and 9th grade at this school. I transferred to a different middle school where I taught 6th & 7th grade for two years and the remaining five years, I taught Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1. I began to tutor after school during my first year to struggling students. I was also listed on the school boards list of tutors. I also worked at an after-school program. During these years, I tutored second graders and up to mathematical levels of geometry, Algebra 1 and Algebra II.

Shelly S

Teaching Style

Because science is a "hands-on" subject, I feel it is extremely important to use demonstrations, examples that are relevant to every-day life, experiments and anything else that will help students understand the world around them. I have been told that I have an "out-of-the-box" approach to learning, but have found it to be successful with the majority of students. Classroom discussions are utilized more often then lectures, because when a student plays an active role in their education, they learn more.

Experience Summary

Over the past 12 years, I have worked in both the private and public sectors of the education community. I have taught grades 7-12 in all areas of science. I have also been the director of a learning center, where I started as a tutor. The years of experience have taught me a great deal about children of all ages and abilities. With each new year, I learn something new about myself and my style.

Swati S

Teaching Style

My teaching style is highly interactive. I developed and taught an undergraduate seminar at UCLA that was based on role-playing and critical thinking of historical events through intense discussion among students. As a tutor, I ask my students a lot of questions in order to tease out their knowledge and opinion on the subject. I believe that I do not have any right answers but I do have access to resources that will enable students to find the answers that are right for them. My teaching style leads to measurable results by focusing on the process of learning.

Experience Summary

Due to my strong researching and writing skills, I was able to graduate from UCLA with a double major in three years. I have taught college-level classes at UCLA as well as tutored both high school and college students for the past 3 years in English composition and the writing process. My interest in Political Science and Global Studies allows me to contextualize any subject topic to the current happenings, which provides greater relevancy, and thus motivation, to my students.

Katherine K

Teaching Style

Throughout my teaching experience I have encountered students of all ages and abilities, from high school students with learning differences to adult learners of ESL. I believe each student is unique and brings their own set of experiences and strengths to the material to be learned, necessitating an adaptable teaching style. I am experienced in the communicative approach and believe each students learns best through discovery and by utilizing their particular intelligence. I am patient, relaxed and treat each student with respect. I think students learn best when they are having fun and have a trusting relationship with their teacher.

Experience Summary

While working towards my bachelors degree in English (with a minor in Political Science), I worked as a substitute teacher in the public school system for a year and a half, in order to ascertain my affinity for many different levels and subjects. My writing and grammatical skills are excellent; in 2004 I was awarded First Place in Undergraduate Writing at the University of North Florida. My first professional teaching experience complemented my areas of expertise perfectly: I taught English as a Foreign Language to business professionals in Argentina for six months, using the communicative approach. During this time I learned much about South American politics and culture, as well as the Spanish language. Upon return I taught English to high school students for one year at a private school for students with learning disabilities and emotional/ behavioral problems. This summer, I have again taught international students at a Berlitz ESL program, ELS Language Center. Throughout the years I have also tutored and worked with students one on one many times, specifically with rudimentary reading and writing.

Gary G

Teaching Style

My teaching style has been, for the most part, dictated by student response. I am comfortable teaching in a traditional lecture format, in a format that uses a cooperative learning approach exclusively, or in a hybrid format. The goal is for effective learning to take place, and I believe my strongest quality is to be able to adapt in such a way that best helps students reach their academic goals.

Experience Summary

For eight years, I taught freshman and sophomore-level mathematics courses at Arizona State University. These courses included College Algebra, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Finite Mathematics, and Elementary Mathematics Theory. Additionally, I have tutored students in these courses both in the Mathematics Department Tutor Center, and on my own personal time.

Desiree D

Teaching Style

As young minds are developing it is my desire to fulfill and enrich their potential. To teach is to be patient and to listen to the student. It is to be approachable and provide constructive feedback. My goal would be to determine the student’s weak points and to develop goals to strengthen their weak areas. Be patience and produce lesson plans to strengthen this weakness. Growing up I played several sports and practice was so essential to achieve greatness. This can apply to all facets of life. Work hard and anyone one can achieve. The student’s success would be a reflection of my progress and will always be a motivator.

Experience Summary

I am a progressive finance professional with over 10 years experience in the commercial banking industry. I have obtained a BS in business management and a MBA in finance. I have experience as a team player and have lead teams. I considered myself to motivate, innovative and have a good rapport with people. My strongest assets are math and computers. I spend my days formulating formulas and constructing reports on spreadsheets. I wish to pass on the wealth of knowledge to our future achievers. It would be a pleasure and my desire to tutor in elementary math and/or pre algebra. I pick these subjects because I had performed suitable doing my years as a student. I was a volunteer for the Junior Achievement program. I volunteer to teach an hour once a week to second graders for three months. I accomplished this for two years. It was a rewarding experience. The subject was structured by Junior Achievement to teach banking, government and the importance of people and places in our community.