Damien
Certified Tutor
I earned my B.A. in Linguistics with a minor in French from the University of Virginia, and completed an M.A. in Applied Linguistics with an emphasis in Sociolinguistics at Old Dominion University. While completing my M.A., I was a teaching assistant for a Rhetoric and Composition course, and tutored undergraduate students. Since then, I have taught French in Virginia Beach City Public Schools for three years. Currently, I tutor French and English Composition, and enjoy both equally. I believe that learning happens best when teachers, tutors, and students are all inspired, and so I work to incorporate students' interests and personal objectives into every session.
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Undergraduate Degree:University of Virginia-Main Campus- Bachelors, Linguistics
Graduate Degree:Old Dominion University- Masters, Applied Linguistics
Violin, Guitar, Languages, Social Theory, Logic, History
- College English
- Conversational French
- English
- English Grammar and Syntax
- Essay Editing
- Expository Writing
- French
- French 1
- French 2
- French 3
- French 4
- High School English
- Languages
- Reading
- Writing
What is your teaching philosophy?
Teaching and learning are inherently social activities that can only happen effectively when teachers and students are both engaged with the material in as relaxed an environment as possible.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
A first session should be focused on becoming acquainted and determining goals for the course of the rest of the session, and future sessions, as well as planning on how the goals are to be met.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
Students become independent learners when they are intrinsically motivated to engage with material, and have the skills to do so. My goal is to provide those skills and give students the opportunity to engage with material that interests them.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
It's very important to engage students by tailoring lessons to their interests and incorporating them as much as possible into any session. I like using sessions as platforms for students to learn more about how to express their personal interests and cares, and language allows a wonderful opportunity to give students the floor for exploring these topics.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Sometimes learning is a little bit like cooking. If something isn't quite working the first time or two, it's just a matter of mixing up styles and techniques until something clicks.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
It is necessary to pinpoint the student’s opportunities for improvement. Reading involves a number of different skills that cannot be addressed in the same way. For instance, if students struggle with fluency because of issues with their vocabulary, then vocabulary-building should be the focus of a session in whichever way the student is best able to learn and retain new words- sometimes flashcards work, for other students organizing words into concept maps is more helpful.