I have been teaching and tutoring in the classroom over twenty years. I have worked at high school and college tutoring centers. In addition, I scored English papers for the Bellevue (WA) School District, for two years, and for the Educational Testing Service for eleven years since 2007, including two years as a scoring supervisor. PMy students have won national awards for their essays.

Primary obstacles hinder a student’s learning: confidence or an uncertain relationship with words, grammar / punctuation skills, and problems when English is a second language. Too often students have not had the experience of seeing their thoughts and feelings come alive in the written word. In other words, the thinking and the experiences that play out through their senses are not successfully translated into language—and they don’t know why. Tutors can help students build their confidence with words.

Grammar and punctuation are generally a problem for all students. Most composition classes do not have sufficient time to teach grammar, and writing centers give focus to content rather than mechanics. If grammar interferes with the understanding of content, this is a big problem. Tutors can help students see that if they want to build a house, they need to know the correct tool.

While it is not typically the job of a tutor to teach critical thinking skills, these skills are foundational to good writing. If students offer a one-sided argument in a paper, I encourage them to speed-write an essay from the opposing view, then ask them to evaluate if they have addressed these points in their original draft. A second strategy is to look at the essay without its introduction and ask the students to highlight the most important points in their essay, then be sure to include those points in the introduction.

I am people-oriented, detail-oriented, and empathic. I am a certified facilitator.