Justin
Certified Tutor
I want to share my love of the English Language with others through skill building and creative approaches.
I have had a passion for writing since I started writing creative fiction when I was eight years old. At twenty-four, I still hold tight to that passion. I have written two books, one fantasy novel, and one non-fiction novel about my thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail.
I graduated from Alvernia University in 2015 with a dual Bachelor Degree in Special Education and Early Childhood Education, where I also worked as a writing tutor all four years. Through the writing center there, I gained a national Tutor I certificate. Throughout my student teaching, I worked in resource rooms, general education classrooms, and schools for behaviorally at-risk students. Since graduating, I also taught my own class of twenty pre-school students for six months. Throughout these opportunities, I loved the common factor of helping others grasp and appreciate new concepts.
I spend my free time playing with my many pets, writing, hiking, and cooking vegan dinners for my fiancée.
I cannot wait to share my experience and ignite the fire of learning in anyone who seeks it.
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Undergraduate Degree: Alvernia University - Bachelors, Special Education/ Early Childhood Education
Creative writing, hiking, animals
- Adult Literacy
- Bassoon
- College English
- Creative Writing
- Elementary School
- Elementary School Math
- Elementary School Reading
- Elementary School Science
- Elementary School Writing
- English
- English Grammar and Syntax
- Essay Editing
- Expository Writing
- Fiction Writing
- High School English
- High School Writing
- Introduction to Fiction
- Math
- Middle School Reading
- Middle School Reading Comprehension
- Middle School Writing
- Other
- Phonics
- SAT Reading
- SAT Writing and Language
- Science
- Special Education
- Test Prep
- Writing
What is your teaching philosophy?
Before I ever became a student of education myself, I knew from personal experience going through school that everyone learns in their own unique, fantastic way. I hope I can help as many people as possible find the special way that works for them and inspires them to develop the skills they care about.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Gather as much information about the student's area of need and specific modes of learning that work for that student.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
Not only by providing students examples of a specific skill, but how to apply it and the mechanics of why it works.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
Drawing parallels to real-life experiences.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Start with a skill the student does understand that relates or connects to the skill in question.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
Request frequent retelling of the material the student is reading, and ask questions specific to the understanding of a passage.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Using examples to demonstrate or further comprehension of a skill that connect to the student's personal life.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Relating the skill to a real-life example so the student could use it to solve a problem that he or she might feasibly face.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Having the student teach me the skill back is one of the best ways to test comprehension.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Towards the end of a session, I give verbal recognition of the increase in a student's understanding from the beginning to the end of the instruction.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
Not only asking the student directly, but asking the guardians or person who is looking for a tutor for the student what their areas of need are; or, observing student work.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
Every person learns differently. It is important to come through the door with an open mind and multiple strategies to engage a wide gambit of student minds.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
When dealing with research papers, style guides are essential, but the most instrumental in any tutoring situation is a simple pencil and paper to draw out examples and sample problems.