...I have a strong interest in working with teens and young adults, having spent six years as an educational assistant, or what most would call a "tutor." I have worked with undergrad and graduate students, ELs, and elementary students. In fact, my experience working with adolescents, teens, and adults has greatly influenced my interest in pursuing a career in teaching. Having ventured a plethora of academic terrains with various age groups, I am happy to...
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...from 13 to 50, in various subjects such as calculus and chemistry. While I enjoy tutoring students in all of the subjects I specialize in, I love tutoring students in physics (specifically, mechanics and waves). Physics is my favorite subject to tutor because while it is more difficult to demonstrate phenomena from other subjects such as organic chemistry, physics is a very prevalent science, so even by rolling my pencil off of a table, I...
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...also pre-med and hope to be an orthopedic surgeon someday. While I originally hail from Cape Cod, MA, I will be spending most of my summer in Boston taking Organic Chemistry at Harvard. Outside of the classroom, I'm a part of Georgetown's club rugby team and also participate in GUMSHOE, a club that teaches math and science to inner city students. I also enjoy going for runs to the monuments in DC and playing in...
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I am a recent college graduate from Columbia University with a lot of experience in research and writing. My major was Human Rights and I am passionate about the issues that I engage with. I received my associate's degree from Bergen Community College in 2014 and my Bachelors from Columbia in 2017. At Bergen Community, I worked in the tutoring center focusing on assisting students with writing in any subject. I also tutor English and...
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...of helping a student through a specific subject or class; but, a great tutor can transform the way a student operates in all of their academic work and prepare them to be an even better student across the board. I strive for the latter as a tutor. So that you can have a better idea of who I am, I will tell you a few non-academic things about myself. First and foremost, I have an...
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...of North Carolina in Greensboro. Though these subjects can at times be difficult to engage with, I am confident that together we can uncover new perspectives and learning strategies that will reinvigorate your relationship to the material and improve your grades dramatically. Sometimes all that is necessary for an academic breakthrough is seeing old material from a new vantage point! I know the importance of developing a strong and functional rapport with students. During my...
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...work at every stage from idea to final draft. Throughout my three years, I had the highest rank among student feedback. Using my training and experience as a college level Writing Fellow, I have tutored many High School students in writing their college essays and applications. As a college application tutor, my philosophy is that each student's application needs to tell a story about who they are. Through the application, the college should be able...
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...Top ACT and SAT scores earned me a scholarship at the University of Miami, where I was able to develop a newfound love for the fine arts. I am now pursuing a B.S. in computer science as well as a B.A. in studio art, with minors in mathematics and public health. I feel that my artistic practice has shaped my teaching, pushing me to take a creative, non-rigid approach to education -- I believe in...
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...I can do more than simply help students with homework. My approach to aiding them is three-fold. I will work to: 1. Review and reteach material from her school that has proven difficult. 2. Diagnostically assess for instructional gaps and then fill in gaps to bolster a strong subject area foundation. 3. Impart test-taking skills and strategies necessary for school success. I teach with the tenets of the Common Core State Standards in mind. As...
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...I graduated with honors. I am currently working toward my Masters of Science in Education at Bank Street College of Education, where I am a student in the Reading & Literacy program. Currently, I am an elementary and middle school teacher in New York City. I have experience working with diverse student populations and believe that all students can become lifelong learners regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. As a former fifth grade...
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...the South and in the Northeast, where I currently reside. I have a Masters in 20th Century American History from the University of Connecticut, a Bachelors of Science in Political Science and History (with honors), and I am currently working on a Masters in Business Administration, which should be completed by Summer 2018. I have taught four history courses at the college level, and I currently work as a Head Teacher at a learning center....
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...I attended math competitions across the country including one at Princeton University and another at New York University. My love for mathematics eventually led to virtual tutoring through Florida Virtual School where I tutored over 150 hours in Pre-Calculus, Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, and Chemistry. I love to teach because it lets me share my enthusiasm for mathematics and science with other students and helps me get a deeper understanding of material that is...
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Hi there! My name is Erica. I graduated from Columbia University, where I studied the intersection of popular culture and politics. I like to write about comedy, dance, and New York arts and culture. I would love to share my enthusiasm for US history, social justice, and semicolons with students!
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...elementary school. After loving the experience, I continued spending my time mentoring in college through a program called Reading Friends. After graduating college, I joined Teach for America and began teaching at a middle school in Nashville. Last year I taught Social Studies, and this year I moved into teaching literacy. I will continue in this position next year as well. Not only do I have extensive experience tutoring and mentoring, but I also have...
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...to pick up information rather quickly, there is a catch however to being a jack of all trades. The catch is that you're next a master at anything only a student of everything. I think my profession above all is that I am a professional and life-time student. On a more personal note of who I am, I am 23 years old and I have lived in Las Vegas my whole life. I have aspired...
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...My approach to tutoring is to identify a students strengths and build upon them through frequent quizzes and reflective analysis. Additionally, having just gone through the college admissions process, I am privy to its length and complexity so can lend advice on anything, namely essays. I have plenty of experience writing and have been published in a local newspaper. While I think math is the easiest subject for me to teach, writing and writing skills...
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...school reading and language arts for 20 years and high school English for 16 years. During my career I have taken continuing education courses at ODU, UVA, U of R, VSU, and KU to hone my craft. I especially enjoy helping students at all levels—standard, gifted and talented, advanced, pre-IB--become better writers while developing an appreciation for good literature. Academic success is often dependent upon a student being able to see the big picture. As...
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...a Kindergarten in Chiang Mai, Thailand, three years teaching ESL at a cram school for students in elementary, middle, and high school in Taipei, Taiwan, and two years teaching creative writing to undergraduates at the University of Notre Dame. As someone who has studied Mandarin Chinese for three years, I understand the difficulty of acquiring a new language and the importance of immersion in the language as opposed to rote memorization of vocabulary words. I...
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...a test-taking strategy because they were told to, they are using that strategy because they were encouraged to discover it for themselves and they understand why it works. Ultimately, I enjoy teaching because both the student and I can simultaneously improve in a process that never ceases to make us better. When I'm not teaching, I enjoy pretty much any activity that gets me outside, especially if that outside happens to be in the woods...
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...use my experience and skills to help other students grow and learn in subjects they like and in subjects they dislike. What is most important to me is whether or not the student truly understands the material they are learning in class. In my experience, when a student "gets it," they are given confidence to continue to learn in that subject. The most exciting thing for me as an educator is to help students find...
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Receive personally tailored 8th Grade Writing lessons from exceptional tutors in a one-on-one setting. We help you connect with the best tutor for your particular needs while offering flexible scheduling to fit your busy life.
8th Grade Writing Tutoring FAQ
By eighth grade, most students have become fairly confident with their academic progress and school standing. In the last year of middle school, however, this paradigm can quickly change, as teachers focus on preparing students for the rigors of high school. While the transitions from pre-algebra to algebra and life science to biology may not be particularly imposing, the expected advancement in students' reading comprehension and compositional skills can be overwhelming. In eighth grade, students are introduced to close reading exercises that are designed to help them gain nuanced meaning from literature, and they are expected to be able to compose passages about the literary analysis they have gleaned from a presented work. If your child is struggling to master the intricacies of high-level literary interpretation, or is having difficulty translating his or her observations into original compositions and essays, eighth grade writing tutoring may be the key to mastering these skills before high school.
Essay composition in sixth and seventh grade is rooted in persuasive writing, which encompasses the five-paragraph essay model. In eighth grade writing, however, students are forced to adopt a new approach. The intertwining of literary comprehension and composition requires a level of insight and awareness that can be very difficult to obtain in a classroom setting. It often requires students to make unintuitive leaps between the words on the page and the authors intended meanings, and to convey such logic in the form of a thesis statement and analytical essay.
If your child is an eighth grade student who is struggling with writing, Varsity Tutors can help you connect with a writing tutor who focuses on building the mentality that your student will need to become a well-versed English student in high school, helping him or her to develop the skills required to analyze complex poetry and prose, and to convey their thought processes and interpretations on paper.
Writing proficiency is an important component of success in high school, college, and in many professional fields. In order to make sure that your child gains the skills needed to succeed in these environments, they will need to be able to write well thought out essays and letters. While some students benefit from studying in the classroom, many need an extra push to be sure that they get the guidance needed to overcome any obstacles they face. Fortunately, Varsity Tutors is excited to help these students find a private writing tutor that can implement a customized lesson plan best suited to their needs.
When you contact your local branch of Varsity Tutors, you will be helped in connecting with tutors who are best suited to your child's immediate needs. Your tutor will carefully consider your child's learning habits, compositional tendencies, and areas of strength and weakness, in order to help you to complement your child's learning goals. Each session promotes one-on-one learning, allowing your child to receive immediate and targeted feedback to help develop his or her literary voice. The individual attention available with a private tutor can easily help your student develop the tools for success in future composition-based courses.
By helping your child to think like a writer, you can help him or her find success well beyond his or her eighth-grade year. Compositional skills are core requirements for almost any career, and they are certainly an essential aspect of the college application process. Writing tutoring can help your child develop the fundamental skill set that can help carry him or her forward into numerous academic and professional pursuits.
For more information about connecting with a tutor in your area, contact Varsity Tutors today and ask for assistance finding the right tutor for you. It doesn't matter if you want to study in person face-to-face over the internet, there is an experienced instructor who is eager to help make your child's dreams a reality.
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Recent 8th Grade Writing Tutoring Session Notes
First, we discussed the effectiveness of the organization skills he has started to put into practice. After that discussion, I brought a vocabulary worksheet for him to match the definitions. I circled the words he struggled with and provided a sentence example that seemed to really help. For the remainder of the session, we worked on writing prompts. I had him pick two prompts that interested him and we tried two different outline systems. Next week, I will have him write a paper from each outline to see which one allowed his thought process to brainstorm most efficiently.
The student and I reviewed the grammatical terms his teacher said would be present on the final. After reviewing each term, he created his own example of a sentence in which the grammatical structure being discussed was present or I presented him with a sentence for him to diagram.
We read and discussed the top 100 most common SAT vocabulary words. She was familiar with many of them, yet she does not use them in her writing. We reviewed a previous essay. She made corrections to it. She also completed a sentence correction portion of the practice test and she was 20% correct. We discussed her answers. I gave her a practice writing prompt and as she drew and told me how she would outline her paper, I wrote it down for her. She is a great artist so drawing as she thinks is what she does best. I will continue to do activities while she can have her hands free to draw and think objectively.
We prepared on outline for the previously written paper using notes from that assignment. I explained to him how an outline is set up and together we completed the assignment. He understood the task.
Student 1 wrote two essays based on essay topics that I sent him for the novel he recently completed, The Outsiders. I read both essays, provided written and oral feedback, and discussed areas that need improvement such as elaboration, support, and clarity. He will re-write both essays based on my feedback and I will check them during our next session. Student 2 wrote two essays based on the recently read novel. The Time Machine. I also provided him written and oral feedback and outlined what areas need improvement such as support, organization, and word choice. He will re-write them based on my notes and I will review them during our next session. Both boys will begin reading their second novel on their summer reading list.
In this session with the student, we went over all of the writing assignments that she was able to complete while on her trip. She read Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," and Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat." She wrote two short comparative essays for the Poe stories, and two analysis essays for "The Lottery." Her fundamentals, grammar and spelling are strong and she knows how to structure essays for them to be logical. Where she needs work is in the areas of phrasing and flow- her sentences are repetitive and choppy, with repetitive words and simple structure. We went through her essays and practiced combining her sentences into longer ones using commas, semicolons and conjunction words, and went through circling repeated words and coming up with different ways to say the same thing without using those phrases.
