"Hello! I am a college communication professor with 10 years of university-level teaching experience. For a decade, I have worked with undergraduate students (at Northwestern College and Grand View University) to help them hone their written, verbal communication and storytelling skills. I served as department chair of Communication at Grand View for three years before moving to an adjunct teaching role and re-entering the professional communication field. With more than 400 students reviewing me over that 10-year period, I received an average teacher rating of 4.7 out of 5, a number that placed me in the top 5% of professors. Today, I write, edit and speak every single day. On the side, I am a freelance copyeditor for university publications at Bryn Mawr College and Iowa State University. I have also previously worked as a K–12 tutor for The Reading Development Program, where I received training and classroom experience in reading instruction and coaching for students at all grade levels.

I love making the complicated simple for students by helping them discover the logical nature of language, grammar and punctuation. At its root, language is a system that anyone can understand and apply. As a teacher, I pride myself on not only being able to teach my students what the rules of language are but also where those rules come from and why they make sense logically. "What" is important, but "why" is transformational. Once a student starts to understand the building blocks that make up language and composition, the veil is lifted and the pieces start to come together. Simply put, when things make sense, they're a whole lot easier!

If you are looking to improve your grammar, composition, reading comprehension or vocabulary skills, I'm here to help. I'd love to meet you, learn about you and work together to achieve your goals. I am willing to meet virtually or in-person in the Ankeny, Johnston, Polk City or Des Moines area. Can't wait to get started!" less...