Personal Description:

My name is Sidney and I just recently completed my Bachelors of Education degree through the University of Ottawa. I graduated this past June 2019 and I have been supply teaching for the past few months. I am very passionate about English and Law and I hope to inspire students to further their knowledge in these subjects. I also hold a passion for the arts and I believe that combining these subjects can spark creativity in the classroom. In my experiences as both a student and a teacher, I feel that the best learning environments come from the most passionate teachers.

Tutoring Experience:

Through my Bachelors of Education program, I have obtained a variety of classroom experience. In my first practicum placement, I taught English at the high school level to students in grades 9, 10 and 11. During this placement, I taught academic, applied and locally developed English. In my second practicum placement this past September, I taught Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Health and Gym to students in grade 4. Before beginning my Bachelors of Education degree, I completed an undergraduate degree in Criminology and English and graduated with a French immersion certificate. I have an extensive 10 year history working in youth and adolescent education and care and have experience teaching in junior, intermediate and senior level classrooms. I have volunteered with the boys and girls club doing homework help and I have taught English as as second language to newcomers.

Tutoring Approach:

I believe that I intrinsically possess the qualities of an effective teacher because I am charismatic, flexible, competent and knowledgeable in the subject matter that I am teaching. I am also constantly self-reflecting and re-evaluating what I could improve on in the classroom and in my lessons. My personal pedagogy consists of actively engaging my students and giving them a say in their own learning through modeling the importance of creating a growth mindset classroom environment. I believe a growth mindset can be instilled in learners through embracing challenges, focusing on continual improvement, viewing failure as a chance to learn and motivating every type of learner. In my view, there is no “one” way to teach, and a good teacher needs to be able to differentiate and teach lessons based on the individual needs of the students in the classroom. I believe that all students are capable of learning and each student has a different learning style. Through engaging students in hands-on, problem-based and collaborative learning, I feel that the students’ individual needs and differences in learning styles can be addressed.