As a life-long learner, I like to make learning fun and exciting for others because it is fun and exciting for me. What I’ve been taking classes about recently is the brain. How it works fascinates me. Since the brain can change and improve, I encourage students to stretch theirs for success.

I have taught writing for 35 years. Ten years of that was for an online classical academy. The rest was in various public and private schools, learning or tutoring centers, and home schools. At one of the schools, I developed a program of English from 6th through 12th grades with the end goal of preparing students for college. I’ve also taught ESL, primarily accent modification.

I am now available to teach online with Inkwell.

Degree: B.S. from Central Michigan University

Major: Education, Speech, English

Special Training: 15 hours of theatre studies at Central Michigan University, 10 years of writing seminars at Oakland University, and teacher training classes through the American Association of Christian Schools

Years of Experience: 35 yrs.

Hero: the American soldier

High–Impact Books: Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson

High–Impact Lecture: Introduction to The Lively Art of Writing 

Favorite Places I’ve Visited: Normandy Beach, Paris, Switzerland, Germany

Hobbies: reading, sewing, crafts

Passion: my grandchildren

Favorite Quotation: “Learning never exhausts the mind.”– Leonardo da Vinci

Currently, I am a student at Grove City College in Western Pennsylvania. I plan to graduate in the spring of 2020 with a B.A. in English, and this summer I will apprentice with Inkwell.

Both in and out of school over the years, I have deepened my knowledge of reading and writing. Serving as a copyeditor for the college’s literary magazine, helping children I babysit improve their reading and writing skills, and discussing literary topics with fellow classmates and professors are just a few ways in which I express my love of language and literature.

Now that I’ve interned with Inkwell English Education, I’m available to tutor online.

Degree: B.A., Grove City College (2020)

Major: English

Special Training: copyeditor for The Quad

Years of Experience:  1.5

Hero: all four of my grandparents

High–Impact Books: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

High–Impact Lecture:  “The Power of Introverts” TED Talk by Susan Cain

Favorite Places I’ve Visited: Venice, Italy, and Mirabell Palace and Gardens in Salzburg, Austria

Hobbies: reading, playing the piano, and spending time with my family

Passion: reading new books and sharing my love of them with others

Favorite Quotation: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”–The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald

I enjoy sharing my love of reading, writing, language, and learning with students. I journal regularly and sometimes write songs for guitar, which I love to play.

I have tutored English language learners in all subjects both in and out of school settings. I lived, taught, and tutored in Caracas, Venezuela, for over a year and a half and in Los Angeles, California, for three years. The appeal of the Detroit area is the diversity of people I’m privileged to work with.

Bilingual, I’ve found that Spanish grammar and vocabulary studies have helped me better understand and teach English grammar and vocabulary. For six years I taught middle school Spanish, and for one year I taught elementary Spanish.   

I enjoy working with students from a wide range of backgrounds, including English language learners and students with special needs. Joining the Inkwell team gives me an opportunity to share my love of language and my experience teaching writing and reading with my students.

Degree: B.A., Hope College; M.A., Oakland University

Major: Language Arts Composite for Elementary Teaching; Masters in Reading

Special Training: Reading Level Diagnostics, Creating Reading Plans, Reading and Writing Strategies; CPI training; on-site training in reading and writing strategies for students in autism spectrum

Years of Experience: 16+

Hero: Mother Teresa

High–Impact Books: Thirty Years with the Silent Billion by Frank C. Laubach, Chasing the Dragon by Jackie Pullinger, Gracias by Henri Nouwen

High–Impact Lecture: Maya Angelou’s “Rainbow in the Clouds” Student Speaker Series address, Hope College, 2001

Favorite Places I’ve Visited: beaches in Venezuela and the Caribbean, mountains in Central America, California coast, Smoky Mountains National Park, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Cambodia, and Peru

Hobbies: reading, traveling, making music, eating food from around the world, hiking, and exploring

Passion: helping students achieve their goals and fostering a passion for life-long learning and discovery

Favorite Quotation: “The greatest gift you ever give is your honest self.”–Fred Rogers

While pursuing my degree in English Writing from Spring Arbor University, I began working as a study group leader and teacher’s assistant, offering in-class support and grading for two English 101 courses. At the same time, I provided proofreading services and instruction for over three hundred undergraduate- and graduate-level students. Because of the number of international students seeking help in language skills, our tutoring staff received ESL training to approach non-western writing styles. Realizing how confusing English can be for foreign students, I became passionate about ESL. I could help students who, though often brilliant, struggled to bridge a communication barrier.

Clear communication is the difference between success and failure. So I have heard anecdotally, time and again, from professionals in virtually every field. If people are unable to communicate their ideas and intentions effectively, the consequences range from wasted time to strained workplace politics. I deeply love literature, but I recognize that language has to be practical in its daily usage. Especially in our modern global economy, good communication skills can open doors. My mission is to help students open them for themselves.

I have seen what is on the other side of those doors. Not only have I worked as a tutor, but after graduation I entered the writing field. I have seen firsthand how writing skills translate into the real world workplace. I have worked in journalism, film documentary, fundraising, copy editing, and marketing. I am excited to use the skills I’ve acquired in tutoring and professional writing to serve students at Inkwell English Education.

Degree: B.A.

Major: English Writing

Special Training: Spring Arbor University Writing Center tutor, teacher’s assistant, grading, ESL training; AFS style (sports journalism) training; CPS courses in Publishing and Technical Writing from Champlain College

Years of Experience: 7

Hero: Madeleine L’Engle

High-Impact Books: Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Ursula LeGuin’s The Dispossessed, Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina

High Impact Lecture: “Darkness as Illumination: God and the Prison-House of Language” by Dr. Brent Cline

Favorite Places I’ve Visited: Rocky Mountain State Park and Guatemala

Hobbies: rock climbing, traveling, reading, making music, drawing

Passion: documentary filmmaking

Favorite Quotation: “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” – Mark Twain

 

I enjoy sharing my passion for words and my love of books and poetry during tutorial sessions in the office, online, and off-site. I also teach summer writing camps and have conducted classes in cooperation with groups in Michigan such as Homeschool Connections in Rochester and Oxford, New Life Christian Church in Troy, the American Chinese School of Greater Detroit in Birmingham, and Kumon Learning Center. Married since 1975, my husband and I have a beautiful family.

Degree: B.A.

Major: English

Special Training: The Lost Tools of Writing™ intensive, C. S. Lewis Summer Institute, CEUs in classical Christian education

Years of Experience: 30+

Hero: Noah Webster

High–Impact Books: Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis, Let Your Life Speak by Parker J. Palmer, The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper

High–Impact Lecture: “The Power of Language for Reconciliation” by Elie Weisel, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, on Aug. 21, 2008, at Rochester College, MI

Favorite Places I’ve Visited: the Jane Austen House in Chawton, England; the shopping square accessed from a tiny cobbled lane that runs into Grafton Street in downtown Dublin; the breathtaking drive to the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, Greece; the white sand beach at Turks and Caicos; Stratford, Ontario’s Shakespeare festival

Hobbies: collecting antique grammar, spelling, and reading textbooks; breeding Cavalier King Charles spaniels, writing poetry

Passion: connecting deeply with people, helping them to understand themselves and others

Favorite Quotation: “Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing.”–Robert Benchley