About Joanne

Teaching is my passion and I absolutely adore being around children. I have extensive experience in both teaching and one-on-one tutoring (with both children and adults) as well as a lot of experience in child care. I have worked with tutoring preschool through middle school age children in all subjects and older children and adults with Art, Reading, Writing, Social Studies, Science, Math up to Algebra, and the Humanities. I am particularly good at helping kids learn to read and helping kids and adults of all ages to improve their reading and writing skills. I'm an avid reader myself and I love to foster a life-long love of reading by demonstrating how magical reading can be and to transform it into something that is enjoyable rather than something that feels like a chore that one has to do so that they can then have fun. I also have experience helping children with learning disabilities and with children who are struggling to do well at their grade level or who need help with their study skills overall. I'm very good with helping with homework, organization and structuring of study-time and with creating a balance between work and playtime. In other words, when possible, I find ways to make schoolwork enjoyable. I'm an extremely intuitive person and I connect very quickly with children and utilize that in order to tailor my teaching methods to what works best for each particular student. Many children who are having trouble in school simply learn best in a different manner then they are being taught and it can be amazing and really rewarding for the child once they are taught in a way that works for them. It is so important early on, to provide the kind of environment and activities that help a child to feel secure and confident and to teach them how to learn; and unfortunately most schools don't have the time or staff to be able to do this in the best way possible for each and every child. I work equally well with adults as I do with children. I worked as a teaching assistant during the entire time that I attended college and was then hired as a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University in their Visual Art Department immediately after graduation. After my fellowship was over, I volunteered for a year at The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston in their Children's Educational Program and then I moved to NYC and worked and taught at Pratt Institute. I have also worked extensively as a private tutor in various types of art instruction, including but not limited to Digital Photography, Photoshop, InDesign, Digital Printing, Traditional Film and Darkroom Photography, Lighting, Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Design, Art History, Contemporary Art Theory and Philosophy, etc. I have also tutored and helped tons of classmates and friends at the college level and beyond with English, Literature, and Writing (Creative, Essay, Research Papers, etc. I love writing papers and helping others to do so). I can help with studying skills and studying for major tests like the SAT, the GED, the GRE, etc. I don't speak Spanish fluently but I took it in college and all throughout grade school so I can help with Spanish homework and with beginning Spanish language education especially for young children. I have also helped quite a few children who have English as their second language to improve their English speaking and writing skills to bring them up to the level that they should be at for their age.