Find Private & Affordable 1st Grade Tutoring
When do you want to start?
James L.
Private tutor in Chapel Hill, NC
Education
I received my B.A. in Elementary Education from Catawba College, ranked the #15 regional college by US News and World Report. I also earned my certification in Technology Education for grades 6-12 from North Carolina A&T State University.
Experience
I have a degree and certifications that allow me to teach students in grades K-12. I have six years experience teaching high school, eight years experience in middle school, and I received my bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. I have taught students at all levels and been successful at each. Having this experience allows me to understand and teach students the skills necessary to do their best in all grades. I also teach a pre-engineering course, and one of my favorite things to do is connect learning to the real world experiences and careers that students are likely to encounter. When students know that the knowledge and skills learned in class can be relevant to their life, they are more likely to work hard at those skills. Teaching engineering to middle school students is quite a challenge. Unlike high school engineering courses, my course is not focused as much on teaching particular skills so much as helping my students develop a way of thinking critically about the world around them. I teach my students a formal problem-solving method and then we apply that method to various challenges. Using this problem-solving technique, students begin to see that problems that might look impossible at the beginning can be viewed differently as problems to which they don’t have the answer… yet. Then the larger task is broken down into small and more manageable chunks that are far easier for them to tackle. This approach to learning can be applied to the rest of the students’ lives, allowing them a greater feeling of control of their own learning. I also have a ten year old son in fourth grade. Helping him find ways to learn material in his particular learning style has been transformative for me, forcing me to learn how to communicate information to learners who think differently from the crowd. Finally, I have been heavily influenced by the work of Carol Dweck and her work on the development of mindsets: “Mindset is a simple idea discovered by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck in decades of research on achievement and success—a simple idea that makes all the difference. In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong. In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.” This research blows the top off the idea that being labeled as “gifted” determines whether or not a child (or adult) is “smart,” allowing for students to understand that they are not a finished product and can continue developing skills and knowledge for their entire lives. This research helps explain why two students can have drastically different reactions to the exact same event, say a failing grade on a quiz. A student with a fixed mindset views that F as more than a grade; it’s a statement that they themselves are a failure. They are less likely to study hard for the next test and assume that they simply cannot learn the material or are not good at the subject. A student with a growth mindset views that F as an opportunity to improve or impetus to work harder for the next test. Developing the growth mindset is a critical thing for young children.
Subject Expertise
1st Grade, 1st Grade math, 1st Grade Reading, 1st Grade Writing, 2nd Grade, 2nd Grade math, 2nd Grade Reading, 2nd Grade Writing, 3rd Grade, 3rd Grade math, 3rd Grade Reading, 3rd Grade Science, 3rd Grade Writing, 4th Grade, 4th Grade math, 4th Grade Reading, 4th Grade Science, 4th Grade Writing, 5th Grade, 5th Grade math, 5th Grade Reading, 5th Grade Science, 5th Grade Writing, 6th Grade, 6th Grade math, 6th Grade Reading, 6th Grade Science, 6th Grade Writing, 7th Grade, 7th Grade math, 7th Grade Reading, 7th Grade Science, 7th Grade Writing, 8th Grade, 8th Grade math, 8th Grade Reading, 8th Grade Science, 8th Grade Writing, Elementary Math, English, Middle School, Middle School Math, Pre-Algebra