Jessica
Certified Tutor
Education is, and has always been my passion! Ever since I can remember, I have had a natural tendency and desire to share knowledge and teach others. I have over 15 years of teaching experience, and am most passionate about teaching Spanish, Math and English as a Second Language(ESL). I received my Bachelor's Degree in Psychology at The Ohio University and my Master's Degree in Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Throughout the years, I have worked as a camp counselor/summer instructor for children between the ages of 5-12, served as a math tutor for fellow students during my undergraduate degree, and lived in Costa Rica for almost two years where I became fluent in Spanish and worked as an ESL instructor for both children and adults. During my 10 years in Chicago, I have worked as an ESL instructor for adults in various communities throughout the city, tutored students looking to complete their GED examination, and provided health education in various capacities throughout the south and west sides communities. I believe in making education fun and interactive - even when it's a topic we are not thrilled about learning. The more we learn, the more opportunities we open for ourselves and for others. In my free time, I enjoy cooking, reading, running, dancing and speaking Spanish. I also love to travel and am always looking for new places to explore and new people to meet.
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Undergraduate Degree: Ohio University-Main Campus - Bachelors, Psychology, Spanish
Graduate Degree: University of Illinois at Chicago - Masters, Public Health, Community Health Sciences
In my free time, I enjoy cooking, reading, running, dancing and speaking Spanish. I also love to travel and am always looking for new places to explore and new people to meet.
What is your teaching philosophy?
I believe in making teaching fun and interactive, no matter what the subject matter!
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
In the first session I want to first get to know you, your goals, and your learning style. From there we can begin to look at our strategy for reaching your goal in a specific subject matter.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
I like to start by working through materials together, learning the student's style, and then gradually encouraging the student to work through the material more independently. We then review and discuss it together afterward, and this allows the student to begin to gain confidence in their ability to learn and problem solve independently.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
First, by making learning fun! I believe learning can always be fun, and it's important to change the approach (i.e. new activities, different way of thinking about the topic) if it seems to be getting boring or routine for the student. Also, it is important to revisit the overall goal periodically, and review progress that has been made in order to increase motivation. Lastly, helping the student to gain confidence in their ability to learn and problem solve independently is a great source of motivation.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Patience is very important - some skills or concepts are going to be more difficult than others for any student. If a skill or concept is clearly not being fully grasped, I like to take a step back and review the basics again, giving lots of examples. Then, increasing the amount of practice on that skill or concept would come next. This includes both inside the tutoring session and out. I would also look for other resources to assist in teaching the skill or concept, as needed.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
My approach is to break the reading down into as small of segments as needed (e.g.1-2 sentences). Then, having the student read the segment and explain to me in their own words what it meant. I think it helps to talk it out, and when a student is stuck, help direct them to words or phrases that they are familiar with. I also like to ask questions about the content to help the student think about what they read. Gradually, we can start increasing the length of the segments.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
I like to get to know student a little bit first, and assess their learning style/what has been helpful for them in the past and what hasn't been. I do this by asking questions and listening. From there, we can move forward with techniques to help reach the student's goals.