Nothing is more rewarding than seeing my students grow and improve their skills. When our doors opened to students for the first time in 2012, I was moved by the testimonials, comments and questions like“I have learned more in three lessons with Maria than I did over the last three months at school. How do other students, who don’t come to you, know where to put commas and apostrophes?”
A few months later the students began coming in with their first success stories. It was the best teacher gift of all.
Veronica struggled with writing for years at school. She was in grade 6 when we started working together. 6 lessons later, Veronica had an in-class assignment, where she had to write a story. Her teacher read her story to the class as an example to be followed.
Ben had trouble learning how to read and, by the end of grade three, he struggled in all his subjects since everything required reading. He could not read simple instructions on tests. The school was pressuring to diagnose him with a learning disability and put him on a modified program. When Ben started working with me, his improvement was astounding. Once he could read, motivation and self-esteem began to improve. He no longer hated school and gained confidence in his ability to work independently. By the middle of grade 5, Ben was one of the top students in his class.
Roy was in French Immersion until grade 8. Writing was never his strength, and high school became increasingly difficult. Roy did well in all his other classes, but his English marks were in the low 60’s. At 16, he had never enjoyed reading and had never finished a novel even when it was assigned for school. He came for help in grade 11 and confessed, “I have no idea what to look for while reading and what to write about a book.” Roy ended the semester with 85% in English, and when his mom called to thank me she also mentioned that he started reading for pleasure.Interestingly enough, Roy had had other tutors before, but the teaching style lacked structure.
Many of my students are logical thinkers who thrive on structure. A while ago, I took it upon myself to develop a method of teaching the art of writing in a very logical, systematic way. It was a challenge, but my students’ success stories made it all worth it!