FEATURED TUTOR: NICOLE

We sat down with Nicole, one of our amazing tutors, as well as our Test Prep Trainer, to talk about some of her experiences tutoring at LTLS, as well as what she likes to do in her spare time! 

How did you get into teaching/tutoring?

I started my tutoring journey when I was very young, helping my peers in class. The earliest instance I can remember is a time in kindergarten where I was helping a boy to understand colors. I don’t remember any specifics, but I distinctly remember sitting with him when no one else did to help him with that. My mom was a teacher, and I went to school in her district, so if students were struggling, coworkers of my mom would ask me to help, and I began working with students younger than me. I knew I wanted to do something in education, but realized I didn’t want to be a teacher, so I focused on tutoring. I really like working one-on-one with students, and helping people find learning fun. 

What’s a favorite story you have from working at LTLS?

One of my favorite things that has happened was with one of my students in the middle of the first quarter of this school year. He’s a 7th grader, and he managed to bring all of his grades up to A’s, but he didn’t know that yet. He was sharing his screen so we could look at his grades, and when he noticed they were all A’s, he was so excited! He said, out loud, “I feel so proud of myself right now!” It makes me feel great when people can say things like that at a young age, because that kind of positive self talk is really important. I always hope it carries through to older years. 

What have you learned through your work in education that you feel is most important to share?

I think we all know (or at least we are all told) that people have different learning speeds and different learning styles, and this really gets highlighted when you get to work with people one-on-one. It’s great to get to experiment with different styles as you are trying to find the one that works for your student. It’s really rewarding to find the puzzle piece that helps things click for another person. The fact that everyone has different learning needs is something that gets repeated a lot, and can sometimes just come off as a talking point, but it's not just a talking point. Everyone has a right to learn, and to learn in a way that's not just inside the confines of what has always been done. 

What’s something we don’t know about you?

I really like mining! Not in a cave with a mining cart, but the term is sort of a blanket one referring to finding minerals. My dad is really into geology, and he has some mining claims in California, and when I still lived there I would go out with him a lot. One of those claims is a really good place to find beryls - a gem that comes in all different shades, with famous ones like emerald and aquamarine - and really pretty minerals. I not only collect minerals I find with him, but also others that I find or buy. I’m just really interested in geology and I especially enjoy finding things myself. There’s something really rewarding about using crowbars to move boulders, or digging intentionally and carefully to find really small minerals.