"Education has been a significant part of my life since I began cutting at risk elementary students while I was still in high school. I continued to work with children and youth throughout my university and postgraduate experience. In addition to my 25+ years as a classroom teacher I have more than five years of formal tutoring experience'. This experience includes: ESL and ESLI, ACT and SAT, GED and ABE, TAKS and STAAR, exit tests, specific writing prescriptions and language arts and social studies/ history/ geography curriculum grades 1-12.

My tutoring goal is to engage, encourage, and educate my students to master goals and then be able to study

Independently. Seeing my students accomplish their goals and enjoy learning brings me joy. The best feeling a teacher or tutor can have is to know a student has met, or even surpassed, his or her goals. Close to that is the joy experienced when a student begins to understand and develops a love of learning.

When I was employed by the Amarillo Independent School District, I taught classes with students from seven different countries all day. To teach and encourage my students, I used one-on-one strategies, collaborative lessons, technology, parent/student conferences, and home visits. I taught 9-12 grades, any and sometimes all curriculum, and testing skills and materials for the TAKS. Our passing rates increased from approximately 30% to 95%, and our students were more successful in their core classes.

When I was working on my master

s degree, I taught ESLI (English as a Second Language International) to university students from other countries. Although these classes included students from around the world, most were from the continent of Asia. I taught in large groups and independently,and through technology and over the phone. These young adults were extremely successful in achieving their goals, including 100% of those going for their MBA's.

While teaching adult education classes to pass the GED, I used my ESL training and experience.My students" less...