"Hello prospective students,

My name is Mariam and I am an elementary school teacher who has taught English Language Arts for three school years and tutored for one. I have my Master's degree in Teaching Elementary Education. I received my teacher certification in Florida and have now also obtained my Professional Educator License in Illinois. I was a classroom teacher in Florida before moving to the Chicago area. There, I taught second grade for one year and third grade ELA/Reading for two years. When I moved to Illinois, I accepted a position as a Reading Tutor with Chicago Public Schools. In this position, I work as a reading tutor with students one-on-one, and in groups of three or four. I work with second, fourth, and fifth graders for thirty minute tutorial sessions at least three days per week. I utilize my content area knowledge to design and implement lesson plans specific to each group’s or student’s needs.

My tutoring methods involve using a combination of formal and informal assessments and observations to personalize and inform the lessons I design for my students. I typically utilize DIBELS – a set of short, timed tests that assess literacy skills – to provide me with an initial idea of the student’s literacy skills/knowledge. I have used DIBELS in my third grade classroom for two years and recently with one of my second graders who is a struggling reader. From her results, I was able to conclude that she needed practice in distinguishing the letters b and d in print and letter-sound blending practice. I utilize TPRI and UFLI to pull reading intervention material, and depending on the student’s needs, I supplement with literacy workbooks that target specific skills. One of my core pedagogical beliefs is in the importance of exposing students to content area knowledge. To that end, I like to work with my students on social studies and science passages within the context of ELA. This practice helps them expand their background knowledge." less...