I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element...I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.
–Haim Ginott, Teacher and Child
Please see my Services & Booking page for more details. I offer both in person and virtual session options depending on student's preference and my availability. I used Calendly for booking and appointment reminders. If you plan to book a consistent session time, please simply book the first session, communicate the frequency with me, and I will duplicate the booking so that you do not have to book each session individually.
I initially moved to Portland with the intention to do a year of service as an AmeriCorps member while I worked in social science reasearch and explored PhD programs for Anthropology. However, my service through AmeriCorps quickly showed me that working with students ignited purpose in me. I worked in math classrooms at an alternative high school in Beaverton and loved connecting with students, learning about their aspirations, and helping them build confidence with math. While there, I worked with students on topics ranging from foundational math skills to Algebra I, Geometry, Trigonometry and Algebra II. I also worked with many students that had unique learning needs including ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and testing anxiety.
I went on to tutor students privately in math while also working as a reading clinician at Northwest Reading Clinic. While at Northwest Reading Clinic, I was trained in Lindamood Bell and Orton Gillingham to treat difficulties with reading comprehension, spelling, visual memory, vocabulary, and study skills. While my passion lies in teaching mathematics, my time providing literacy intervention has informed many aspects of my math instruction; in many respects, math is a language one must learn to organize and decode just as they do with reading and writing English.
I continued my tutoring work while pursuing my Masters degree in Counseling with a focus on School Counseling from Portland State University. During this program I was required to complete a 200 hour teaching practicum, where I delivered math instruction in collaboration with two teachers to students in grades 9-12. Having the unique circumstance of working in two classrooms afforded me the opportunity to observe different teaching styles and classroom management strategies. I was also able to design and deliver lessons on subjects ranging from Algebra I and II to Geometry and Trigonometry, and applied learning frameworks such as the Universal Learning Design. Outside of direct instruction, I had opportunities to mentor students through struggles such as low confidence and executive functioning. I worked with students, both individually and in small groups, to provide tutoring to students who were at risk of failing a course.
