Kristel
Certified Tutor
Learning is a lifelong pursuit, and I believe that such a goal is attained in full only when, once something has been learned oneself, it is passed along to someone else!
I grew up in rural southwestern Montana on a small, well, we shall call it a "fanch", as it was a combination of both a farm and a ranch. I attended university in Bozeman, Montana, majoring in both English and Spanish for Secondary Education. The fall semester of 2006, I had the amazing opportunity of studying abroad in Murcia, Spain, as well as traveling around a bit of Italy, Belgium, France, and Morocco. I've since then been on trips to Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, the Cayman Islands, Canada, England, Whales, and across the States to reside here in Virginia.
I have taught high school for 6 years in three different locations: Balfate, Coln, Honduras, Richey, MT, and Missoula, MT, and had the opportunity to teach for the past year at the Lifelong Learning Center in Missoula. Apart from my teaching career, I enjoy traveling and experiencing new cultures, dancing (specific Latin styles), playing soccer, and, more recently, spending time with my husband and newborn son.
Connect with a tutor like Kristel
Undergraduate Degree: MSU-Bozeman - Bachelors, English and Spanish for Secondary Education
State Certified Teacher
language, travel, dancing, cooking, reading, writing, soccer, tea, horses, agriculture, fencing
- ACT English
- ACT Writing
- Adult ESL/ELL
- Adult Literacy
- American Literature
- AP Spanish Literature and Culture
- Art
- Basic Computer Literacy
- British Literature
- CLEP Prep
- CLEP American Literature
- CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature
- CLEP English Literature
- CLEP Spanish
- College Application Essays
- College English
- College Essays
- Comparative Literature
- Conversational Spanish
- Creative Writing
- Drawing
- English
- English Grammar and Syntax
- ESL/ELL
- Essay Editing
- Fiction Writing
- Graduate Test Prep
- Handwriting
- High School English
- High School Level American Literature
- High School Writing
- Introduction to Fiction
- Languages
- Latin America History
- Literature
- Medieval Literature
- Microsoft Office
- Other
- PCAT Writing
- Poetry
- PSAT Writing Skills
- Reading
- Social Studies
- Spanish
- Spanish 1
- Spanish 2
- Spanish 3
- Spanish 4
- Spelling Bee
- Technology and Coding
- Test Prep
- World Literature
- World Religions
- Writing
What is your teaching philosophy?
I strive to find common bridges of communication to pass along learned skills or knowledge. I mostly hope to teach others how to search and find how they learn best themselves. Once a person discovers how to learn, they only have to keep strengthening their "learning muscles" to improve any given content area or skill.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
Once we've identified an obstacle in his or her learning, we can target taking steps to modifying the approach to said learning and practice the effective way until the student is strong enough to work on his or her own.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
I generally find what the student is interested in, and then work within that framework to help them in a specific content area.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
I would use a different learning style until we find one that gives the student confidence to approach the issue from a different angle.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
I usually break a passage down, act it out, have the student illustrate portions of a text, or show them how to close-read a text to make connections to the vocabulary and literary elements in it.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
I try to find an area (related or otherwise) that they ARE interested in, and then find a way to bridge the information. If a student is interested or knows how that information will help them in his or her real life, I find that we can then approach the challenges in a specific subject with an end goal to look forward to.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
I would give them oral and/or written assessments, as well as have them visually represent the information in writing, illustration, or visual concept map.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
If a student finds a way to gain ground, so to speak, he or she will build confidence. My goal is to find a way for him or her to make progress in ways that can be easily identified by said student. Once one step is complete, I encourage him or her to take the next step. Rome was not built in a day after all!
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
I can usually tell areas for improvement from writing samples, content quizzes, or a short oral conversation.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
I love sharing online resources, phone apps, and books that I have found helpful in my studies. It depends on which area I'm tutoring in, but I have a plethora of resources, both digital and hardcopy.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
I first like to get to know the student well enough to decide which methods will work best to help the student reach his or her goals the most effectively. To that end, I like to see a sample of work in the area in which he or she needs help, and learn of any specific target goals or deadlines.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
I can move faster or slower, explain material in multiple ways, and use more technology or less. I am a huge fan of modeling a skill first then doing it together, and then observing the student on his or her own. After this I assess them again to make sure the skill and content has been effectively learned, and not simply regurgitated.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
I would like to get to know the student a bit, what interests him or her, his or her strengths and areas of improvement, what he or she is studying, and for what purpose the material will be used. I would introduce myself, perhaps do a quick ice-breaker game, and then ask the student for a small introduction to his or her interests and education history.