Hello parents and guardians, I have been a teacher/special educator for thirty years and am currently in a graduate program in counseling psychology and eventually plan to grow old in that capacity. I am very excited about the surge in this type of tutoring to enhance the educational experience. I was a proponent of small group and individualized education throughout my teaching career and enthusiastically embraced the trend towards Lucy Caulkins style workshopping and individualized feedback and goal setting. I spent 8 years in specialized publicly funded middle schools for students referred out of their public schools for behavioral concerns, 12 years in a public high school in Cambridge MA, then 2 years in a charter school and then the public elementary schools in Miami, 2 years in a charter middle school here in Brooklyn, first as special educator and then, on request, as seventh grade humanities teacher. During the pandemic I began substitute teaching at Poly Prep elementary and last year was an associate teacher in a third grade class there. This year I will continue to substitute teach at Poly Prep Elementary. I have had beautiful experiences everywhere, but am also keenly aware of the limitations of institutionalized settings. I have always been very interested in the social emotional components of learning and growing with a particular interest in writing, literature and stories, and history. I wrote my first masters thesis on the cognitive and emotional aspects of teaching writing and this remains a strong interest. I am now very concentrated on studying narrative therapies and existential therapies and using that with different developmental stages. My more recent elementary school experience has also enhanced my fascination with play and curiosity. I have long been interested in the ideas of Mihaly Szentcsikmihaly about focus and an optimal zone to be found in anything you do. I am a strong believer that one must meet every student at their marginal circle and then begin to expand that. More ease with language combined with an understanding of self, a good relationship to the guides (teachers, tutors), a positive, constructive, disciplined approach, and an increasing ability to focus and become submerged in your work allows any student to evolve towards the most intelligent version of themselves. I have also taught math and am comfortable with Algebra and Geometry level curriculum as well as earlier stages. My overview of the growth and development of humans has been greatly enriched by the raising of two sons, now adults, who always had very different needs and trajectories. There is no group I like to support more than parents. I am also a lifelong soccer player/fan , and a serious practitioner of Insight meditation and Iyengar yoga and dance whenever I can. I bring much energy, enthusiasm, experience and a very sincere love of young people and the learning process to my work. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.