"For over 20 years, I have been a part-time English/Writing Professor teaching classes both on campus and online. My passion for writing developed throughout my schooling with many dynamic, encouraging teachers who helped me along the way. During my undergraduate studies at Franciscan University, I helped set up the writing center and tutored many other students, which ignited an interest in teaching. After receiving my Bachelor of Arts in English Composition (Writing), I went to New Mexico State University where I taught a writing class each semester and tutored in the writing center throughout my own studies. I graduated with a Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Professional Communication. I currently work as a part-time professor at a local community college.

While my professional work focuses on college-level students, I have also worked with middle school and high school students. My approach to writing in general is centered on the writing process and trying different approaches. I like to see this as each student having a toolbox, and my job is to give the students the tools to fill that box, tools that they can try and then use the ones that work best for them. I also try to use examples to show what "good" looks like. When tutoring, I turn my focus to what the student needs to work on individually. For this reason, I ask for students to bring a sample of their writing or an assignment that they are working on. I also ask students to write down their strengths and weaknesses, and after talking about them, find the areas that they most want to improve. From there, we can work together on the assignments or projects. My ultimate goal in teaching and tutoring is to help students improve and take what they have learned and build on it in the future." less...