What I do:
I enjoy tutoring any age, from first grade and up, whether English is a first language or a second. I've successfully tutored multiple family members at once. Current and recent clients include high school students preparing college essays and elementary and middle school students. If you are interested in learning more, please use my contact page. References available upon request.
Experience and Process:
I've taught college-level English, including English Composition, Basic Writing, and Children’s Literature. I teach students how to revise for themselves, looking first for big-picture issues and last for patterns of punctuation/grammar errors so that they can self-correct in future. A nurturing tutor with a sense of humor, I believe in pointing out writers’ good instincts and successes. I help students generate ideas, understand organization, ensure clarity, defeat wordiness, and strengthen writing through specific detail. Success for me is when my students no longer resist writing and burst in, eager to tell their stories.
Philosophy on Equity:
I’ve read and thought a lot about college admissions, including this from The New York Times: “The admissions scandal became a symbol of a system of higher education already seen as exploitable for those with means and all but impregnable for those without.” —Bromwich and Weaver, 12/8/20. In hopes of doing my very small part to contribute to broader redistribution of wealth, I offer sliding scale rates/pro bono services for students of historically oppressed groups, including but not limited to students of color, Indigenous students, immigrants, those without access to financial resources, and any other student who is not in a place to exploit the system. In 2021 I have volunteered in the Mashpee Public School system and as a judge for WriteBoston’s Teens in Print Rising Voices Awards designed to “amplify the voices of students of color and attendees of traditional Boston public schools.”
And on the SAT as an indicator of wealth: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/10/23/upshot/sat-inequality.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20231023&instance_id=105868&nl=the-morning®i_id=67173931&segment_id=148051&te=1&user_id=d620a57242ce5a05133691b27d3fd439
Testimonials:
“Laura was the best tutor I could ask for, and more. She saved my college application process and my senior self.” —student, 2021
“Laura’s comments were always helpful and made me confident in my writing. I’m happy with how my personal essay turned out. It was fun watching it develop through the drafts. She helped me look more critically at my writing and helped make my college application process more manageable and less stressful.” —student, 2021
“Laura was a bright spot in the college application process.” —parent of rising senior, 2018
“Laura saved our marriage.” —parent of rising senior, 2018