"With more than five years experience teaching in the NYC Public School system, I began tutoring homebound students with special needs. Student C, a Chinese-American boy who'd not attended school even one day of his sixth grade year, needed over the summer to pass the test to advance to the seventh.

C at first refused to leave his room. He'd been traumatized by the "tough" school in his new neighborhood. I'd been at the school to pick up text books, so I knew what he meant. Outside his door I commented to his sister that I wouldn't have wanted to attend such a chaotic school myself. Out he came hiding under his "hoodie."

I taught C math, social studies, science, and English in lessons specially designed to capture his interest. For instance, for English grammar I used cloze paragraphs about Albert Einstein, a subject whith which I was familiar having just read "Einstein in Love." For science and social studies I assigned him computer tasks utilizing the Hubble Telescope site and The Library of Congress site. Happily C who'd been ignorant of even the simplest subject/verb agreement rules of English Grammar, passed into the seventh grade.

At this time I am not certified in New York and Florida, the states where I taught, because jobs were not available and I let the certificates lapse. However, I remain a published author, with a summa cum laude degree in elementary education. My approach to any student is to determine his or her needs first by assigning an appropriate project such as an essay or themed report, which I will then evaluate. I am good at honing in on attributes that will support communication skills.

I believe it was my compassion, patience, and a real rapport with the young that contributed to my success." less...