Tomada Learning

I have taught Biology and Honors Level Anatomy and Physiology for 10 years. I have also spent 5 years studying learning theory and brain development and have devised lessons (and an entire program I offer to local schools as an after school program) to help students increase their learning and retention as well as their reading and writing skills. In addition to being a teacher, I am also an academic coach, specializing in executive functioning skills.

I love using the Socratic method. My "lectures" are really more of a class discussion. I like to ask leading questions, giving my students a chance to think of concepts and more questions on their own. I also really like to use study groups and group work to assist students in their learning. I find that study groups and group projects require a lot of scaffolding to hold all members accountable, but that when this is done correctly, students get a lot more out of learning from each other than in most other ways. I am also a strong proponent of literacy in all subject areas. I have found that the only way to see if students really understand what they are learning they need to be able to evaluate the information found in readings and to be able to write about the concepts they are studying. I also feel teachers are extremely over worked, so I design literacy assignments with ease of grading in mind. I find the more scaffolding I give students to help them with their reading and writing, the better their final outcome, and the easier for me to grade! In addition to creating lessons that maximize student learning while minimizing teacher grading, I always pay special attention to fostering executive functioning skill development in my students. I create lessons that encourage time management, multi-tasking, retention, and more, and demonstrate breakdown of assignments and organization to my students with my carefully guided activities.

Students have selected me as the "teacher of the week" on my campus many, many times (once to twice a year, every year I have taught).

I have a BS in Physiology from University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), and a single subject teaching credential from Chapman University in Walnut Creek, CA (now Brandman University).

I am currently on leave from teaching while I stay home with my infant son and two-and-a-half year-old daughter. I work for myself as a learning coach and tutor. Between diaper changes and other melt downs, I work on lesson plans that will yield the results I desire from my students and align my curriculum with the new learning standards, as well as design materials to help students learn across all subject areas and to foster their development of executive functioning skills.