"Hi everyone! I'm Ms. N., though I guess you lucky lot will get to call me Alyssa! I am a former 8th-grade English teacher, and over the last eight years, I've taught in Idaho, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. In South Carolina, I taught at the Charleston School of the Arts, consistently rated among the top 5 schools in the state, and our comprehensive reading scores were in the 90th percentile. I'm passionate about reading, having built my own classroom library of over 700 books. My curriculum focused on literary analysis, essay and creative writing, grammar and writing mechanics, as well as rhetorical analysis. And of course, with my theatrical background, I know how to make learning entertaining.

In school, I unknowingly struggled with reading comprehension, even though I loved books, writing, and anything to do with Language Arts. So, the thought that I wasn't a good reader never crossed my mind. My teachers were at a loss because my grades and work ethic were high, but my test scores were low. It wasn't until college that I realized why. I spent many years in deep study to improve my reading skills, focusing on slowing down, re-reading, and pulling apart sentences grammatically. Because I walked that path of reading frustration, I know how to help my students in ways that other teachers cannot.

So, do you have a book that the teacher assigned that you just can't get through? Do you have an essay due in a few days, and you have no idea where to begin? Is your teacher using words like appositives and nonessential modifiers, and it feels like they are speaking a completely different language? I get it. I know the tools, and I have the patience to see you through. We're going to have fun, and you are definitely going to see improvement!" less...