English and Language Arts (ELA) Archives

Jaime Mezon

Jaime Mezon is passionate educator and private tutor on faculty at The Elisabeth Morrow School as a first grade head teacher. Jaime comes from Avenues the World School where he was a teacher in a Spanish section of kindergarten (in nursery through middle school, children spend half their day in a class conducted in English and the other half in a class conducted in either Spanish or Mandarin). Additionally, Jaime worked as an admissions consultant for Avenues. As an admission consultant, Jaime assessed a variety of incoming students through model lessons, hosted playgroups, and conducted recruitment research to advance institutional profile and increase enrollment. He joined Avenues from P.S./I.S. 210, Twenty-First Century Academy for Community Leadership in Manhattan, where he worked as a teacher in a bilingual special education fifth grade classroom.

Prior to P.S./I.S. 210, Jaime Mezon was an assistant teacher, supporting classroom teachers in an inclusive special education kindergarten classroom at P.S. 029 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. He facilitated the Kids Club after-school enrichment program, where he practiced motor skills with lower elementary students through arts and crafts and provided homework support to middle school students. Prior to this role, he provided language instruction to emergent bilingual Spanish-speaking students, and tutored K-6 students in various subjects through the Alianza Dominicana MOSAIC Beacon in the Bronx.   Jaime creates an environment where children are motivated and confident in their abilities to perform above expectations. He is skilled in Fundations, Wilson’s reading system, Handwriting without Tears, TERC Investigations, GO Math, Math in Focus, Singapore Math and ReadyGEN.

Jaime Mezon received a B.A. in Economics from SUNY New Paltz and an M.S.Ed. in Bilingual Special Education from the City College of New York. He is fluent in both Spanish and English and has been a private tutor in NYC for 8 years.

In his free time, Jaime enjoys reading, traveling, playing basketball, and spending time with family.

Eminesse Gonzalez

Eminesse Gonzalez is currently a Learning Specialist on faculty at The Spectrum School, working with Kindergarten and first grade students with autism spectrum disorder. Eminesse also teaches a 1st Grade class on Saturday mornings through the GO Project, providing extra support to students in public schools and teaching reading, writing, and math strategies that are aligned with the Common Core Standards. As a private tutor, she works with a wide range of learners in elementary and middle school. Eminesse received both her Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree from Pace University, with a combined focus in Elementary Education and Special Education.

Eminesse has provided instruction in an array of different environments, working with first, third and fourth grade students from diverse backgrounds. Her experiences have helped her to her fully understand that every child is unique and learns differently. In Valhalla, New York, Eminesse worked as a student teacher where she gained experience with differentiation in regards to literacy and math. In Manhattan, New York, Eminesse was welcomed into a new academic community where she gained her first experience teaching in an inclusion classroom. For a full academic year, she assisted students of different cultural, linguistic and economic backgrounds who, she is proud to say, demonstrated tremendous growth by the end of the year.

Eminesse exudes a genuine passion for teaching and learning. In 2013, she had the opportunity to present at the 9^th International Literacy Conference in Guatemala City, Guatemala. While visiting underprivileged schools in Guatemala, Eminesse had the opportunity to share interdisciplinary teaching methods with educators around from the world. Her main objective was to invite teachers to utilize more creative approaches in the hopes of enhancing literacy within all academic subjects. For Eminesse, visiting Guatemala City was an eye opening experience that reinforced the concepts of collaboration, differentiation, and being a reflective practitioner.

Eminesse currently resides in the Lower East Side area of Manhattan where she enjoys reading, trying new restaurants, and spending time with family and friends. This year she hopes to continue her love of traveling, which she attributes to her open-mindedness and love of learning.

Karen Eldred

Karen Eldred is a teacher and private tutor with an extensive background working with both typically developing students and students with learning differences at the middle and high school level. Karen earned her BA in Education from Antioch College and her MCAT (specializing in Movement Therapy) from Hahnemann Medical University in conjunction with the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance in London, England.

Having lived in London for 15 years, Karen is an official British resident with her QTS (Qualified Teacher Status). As a member of the Special Education Needs Department of London’s Holland Park School for seven years, she worked with mainstream and LD students in grades 7 through 12 delivering planned programs of support in accordance with legal educational requirements (IEP).

Upon her return to New York City, Karen continued her focus in special education, and taught English, History, US History, Geography and Government as well as test preparation at The Churchill School and Center for Students with Learning Disabilities. During her time at Churchill, Karen was committed to helping students with all facets of school life, both inside and outside the classroom.

Whether Karen was in the classroom, leading small groups or working intensively one-to-one, she effectively engaged with students whose learning challenges included ADHD, depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, personality disorders, and executive function issues.

With strong interpersonal and communication skills, Karen has a natural ability to connect with young people and is passionate about providing support for the academic and emotional challenges they face. Working as a private tutor since 2007, she specializes in working with LD students in the areas of English, History, Executive Function Skills, and Regents Exam Preparation. Karen offers academic remediation and emotional support through a program based on information gathering and then tailored to meet an individual’s unique learning style. Patient and respectful, she considers the student’s perspective absolutely essential for the creation of a successful tutoring relationship. She has a clear understanding of the importance and value of collaborating with the family, school and outside professionals in order to best serve a student’s needs. It is an integral and ongoing part of her work with students.

Karen is committed to helping young people achieve their educational goals through constructive working relationships and a belief in their right to succeed, always fostering a sense of worth, independence and ability. In her spare time, Karen loves to read, learn about health and nutrition, and visit New York’s galleries and museums. Seeing friends in London and traveling to new places is always on her list.

Deborah Friedman

After working for years as a communications professional specializing in writing persuasive editorials, speeches, marketing and publicity materials, Deborah H. Friedman now uses her command of the English language to enhance the linguistic, reading comprehension and writing skills of her students.

As a communications strategist, Deborah created and implemented publicity plans, which heightened the visibility of national organizations via traditional and social media outreach. As a private tutor, Deborah teaches students to organize their thoughts, manage their workload and develop sound study habits, thus enabling them to receive better grades and in the process boost their self-esteem. Deborah imparts to her students her organizational skills and knowledge of time management strategies, combined with creativity, innovation and the tenacity to see things through.

Deborah Friedman holds a B.A. in Political Science from SUNY Binghamton, and a dual Master’s Degree in Elementary and Special Education from Manhattanville College.

Deborah uses her training as a special educator to create individualized programs based upon a pupil’s learning style. She breaks down challenging tasks into digestible bites and uses innovative methodologies for younger students struggling to organize their thoughts or master a five-paragraph essay. Deborah also coaches middle and high school learners preparing to take the SAT, ACT, AP, ISEE, SSAT, and COOP exams as well as New York State testing.

As a child of a poet and essayist, and a high school English teacher, Deborah Friedman developed a passion for words at an early age. Crossword puzzles were de rigueur and debating world affairs was standard dinner table fare- she strives to impart the same love of words to all her students.

Shuhan Hu

Shuhan Hu graduated Magna Cum Laude from Rutgers University with a B.A. in English Literature and Political Science. She is a native Mandarin Chinese speaker who was born and raised in the United States. She grew up in an environment enriched with the Chinese language and culture, however Shuhan took her Chinese language skills to a higher level by immersing herself in Chinese culture, living in Taipei, Taiwan for two years. There she studied Mandarin Chinese at ShiDa University and worked as a private English tutor.

She taught elementary through advanced level English to native Chinese speakers in Taiwan and has had students of all different ages ranging from Pre-K to young professionals.

Shuhan Hu believes in an interactive classroom, so whether it is a private tutoring session between tutor and student or a large class of 20 kids, she believes communication and a strong connection between the teacher and student is imperative to a successful learning experience. This is why she takes the time to build a relationship with each of her students, learning how they learn and what they are passionate about. She caters each of her lessons to the needs and interests of her students incorporating activities such as games and arts and crafts for younger students and a diverse selection of novels, articles and short films for older students.

Regardless of the specific topic of the lesson, Shuhan always integrates critical thinking, note taking, reading comprehension, and brainstorming skills into each lesson. She believes these are essential skills to have both in the classroom and out of the classroom in every day life. Although acquiring efficient study skills is important for a successful academic career, she believes pure rote memorization of vocabulary words is not conducive to actual learning. Learning is a fun and dynamic activity!

Shuhan is passionate about languages and different cultures; she loves to travel to learn as much as possible. She started off early in life, traveling to France in high school on a student exchange program. Living abroad for a mere three months, she experienced her first culture shock, learning just how diverse the world truly is. After France, Shuhan continued with her interest in different cultures and languages by focusing her thesis on the political climate of South Africa. She studied abroad in South Africa where, she learned Afrikaans and the Zulu language as well. In her spare time, Shuhan likes to discover new books, music and artists alike.

Jaime Mezon

Karen Eldred

Deborah Friedman

Shuhan Hu

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