Personal Statements

Whether writing for college, or just practice, I support students in exploring their personal narrative and creating a personal statement. Many of these questions are invasive and the context for college applications represents high-stakes writing. It is important that students feel prepared not only for tackling the prompts, but also the iterative process of drafting. This is why I aim to empower students with strategies and tips on how to manage the construction of such a document. This way they will have tools to build the infrastructure of the narrative, focusing on the coherence, inferences, themes, and overall coordination of their ideas. It is like building a house – you don’t worry about the color of the walls before the walls are even built. Word choice, grammar, and style, are all paint. We need a blueprint, foundation, support beams, etc… first. This is why I help students outline the chapters of their narrative, build the themes, and weave them in a way that is considerate to the reader and makes the author’s story accessible. At the end every word will matter, but it doesn’t need to matter at all phases of writing.

Book Clubs

Often students have bad experiences with reading, especially as it relates to comprehension tests. Book clubs are a vehicle to change the landscape. Through a shared reading experience, I work with families in engaging in inferential thinking and confidence in thinking. We use research-based approaches to engage in a deep dive of narrative-meaning making, and explore the curiosity we all have about the story, characters, and the decisions they have to make. This is done on zoom where the family puts me on their flat screen TV and I share the e-book (comic or text) on their screen. As we read, taking turns, I type what we all think and the questions we come up with on a document. This way people can all see their ideas live and are being acknowledged. After the reading session we review the document and celebrate our cognition. Following that, I talk with parents about ways we can improve and move the dial forward. Book clubs are done with the whole family (parent(s), student, and me). By having an artifact at the end of each session, we have a running record of our ideas. Also, at the end of the book I print out all our ideas in the form of a printed book. This can be fun to read together after since the family is the author.

General Writing Support

I help students with classroom-based writing along with unique projects. If a student needs help with their school essays, I provide editing support while teaching them strategies on how to tackle future prompts. Other students want to do their own book or writing project. In these cases the same rules apply, empowering students with strategies and an identity to tackle such writing tasks.

Thesis, Dissertation, and Capstone Projects

I help guide and support students in organizing, outlining, situating, and editing their research projects.