John

Certified Tutor

My name is John Britton Buttrill, and I am an educator working in a global context. I have worked as an English Literature teacher for the past five years and will spend this year traveling throughout France & West Africa. I hold two graduate degrees, an MFA in creative writing and an MA in English education. I believe that the study of English allows us to garner the communication skills, while gaining a larger understanding of how our lives fit in to a diverse world. My passion for teaching literature stems from my background as a writer, as I am a produced playwright, published poet, and freelance journalist.

I have worked as an English teacher with the NYC Department of Education. I taught 9th grade English at a Title-1 high-school, serving high-needs BIPOC students, where I took on leadership and teaching roles. I was a team leader for the 9th grade English department, created department wide unit plans for a variety of texts, and taught both honors-level and special-needs students. I was a member of our school's Equity Committee and co-creator of a mentorship group for male-identifying students of color. During the 2020/2021 remote-learning school year, I utilized a variety of technologies, including Google Classroom, PearDeck, and Padlet. Lastly, I had the highest student-attendance rate in our high-school.

As a teacher of literature and literacy, I employ a Critical Pedagogy using the Socratic method. My practice is grounded in equity and social justice, and thus I challenge my students to interrogate the world around them. I believe that effective ELA instruction should be tailored to students' cultural contexts, while maintaining rigor and college preparedness. To achieve these goals, I strive for an authentic, relationship-based classroom culture.