Michelle is a learning specialist who received her Bachelor of Science degree in Cognitive Science with minors in psychology and disabilities studies from the University of Delaware. She went on to complete her Masters in Speech and Language Pathology at Hunter College, and in 2020 she received her Juris Doctor degree from New York Law School intending to pursue Education Law in the future. During tutoring sessions, Michelle helps students develop skills from a variety of subjects including reading, math, and writing.

Regarding reading skills, Michelle has provided in-home tutoring to assist students in developing their phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, vocabulary, and reading comprehension skills. Michelle’s approach is student-centered, and she makes a conscious effort to plan activities that align with a student’s specific interests to keep sessions engaging and enjoyable. Michelle has provided writing support to students in first grade through eighth grade, with a particular emphasis on the planning stage, and organizational strategies used in writing. She has assisted students in learning to write persuasive, narrative, and informative essays. She utilizes a process-based approach focusing on writing full texts and meaningful ideas. This approach de-emphasizes spelling, punctuation, and grammar in the initial writing stage, coming back to these constructs later in the process.

In the area of math, Michelle has experience working with first through third-grade math curricula. She is skilled at helping students enhance their problem-solving skills, and master mathematical concepts through the use of tangible manipulatives and visual aids. She places emphasis on making sure students fully understand early mathematical concepts, rather than just completing problems in a rote manner, as early concepts are fundamental to complete more complex equations in later years.

Lastly, Michelle has experience helping students strengthen their executive functioning skills. Specifically, she has provided in-home tutoring to address adaptable thinking, helping students adjust to situations when necessary, and how to see situations from another’s perspective. She also has experience improving students’ working memory, by helping students retain and store learned information efficiently and then later put it to use.