Humanities Archives

Dan Muro

September 7, 2020

Dan Muro is a private tutor who specializes in social studies, language arts, Portuguese, and Spanish. Dan grew up in New Jersey, where he attended The Pingry School from kindergarten through 12th grade. In High School, he was an honor roll student and frequent discussion leader in class, particularly in his favorite subjects: biology, English, Spanish, and political science. Outside of the classroom, Dan was a competitive swimmer and a founding member of the Coffeehouse Society, which organized open-mic nights for the school’s student artists. He also worked as a camp counselor at the Montclair Yard School of Art’s summer camp.

After graduating from Pingry, Dan Muro attended Wesleyan University, where he earned his B.A. in anthropology. A native speaker of Portuguese, Dan had the opportunity to share his love of Brazilian culture and language as a course assistant for beginner and intermediate Portuguese, facilitating group tutoring sessions and providing individually tailored support to students. He also worked as a woodshop monitor, teaching student artists how to properly and safely operate heavy machinery and tools. His sophomore year, Dan designed his own study abroad program in São Paulo, Brazil, where he conducted ethnographic and archival research with an architecture office supporting community-led housing initiatives and design processes. Dan Muro currently works as a writer and consultant for cultural institutions, such as The Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel University, Philadelphia Contemporary, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum. As one of the founding team members of DVDL Design Decisions, a boutique consultancy, Dan assisted in the design of new education, curatorial, and space design strategies for world-class museums.

Dan draws on his patience, listening skills, and love of learning, as well as his real-world problem-solving experience, to meet each student where they are. He offers support tailored to each student’s needs on test-taking strategies, reading comprehension and analysis, integrating new concepts into their intellectual toolkit, and problem-solving tactics across subjects.

When he is not teaching or tutoring, Dan can be found reading poetry and old urban planning documents, writing songs with friends, or enjoying the outdoors.

Jordi Rozenman

February 13, 2020

Jordi Rozenman is a highly experienced and enthusiastic private tutor specializing in writing, reading, and literature. She taught high school English for five years in public and private schools, and was the Associate Director of College Counseling at The Field School in Washington, DC. Jordi is currently pursuing a master’s degree in the great books program at St. John’s College. While attending graduate school, she has had the pleasure of working with the college office at Georgetown Day School, helping seniors in all stages of writing their college essays. In the summer of 2019, Jordi became an online discussion leader for Classical Academic Press, leading students in thoughtful and vibrant discussion in courses such as The Odyssey and Oedipus Rex. Outside the classroom, she has extensive private tutoring experience with students from DC and Northern Virginia schools.

Jordi Rozenman is the winner of an ETS Award for Excellence on the English Language, Literature, and Composition Praxis exam, and completed the College Board’s training to teach AP Literature. In October 2019, she had the opportunity to present at the annual conference of the Association for Graduate Liberal Studies Programs, giving a paper entitled “Literature for Human Beings,” drawing on her experiences teaching English. She has published op-eds as well as poetry, and is thrilled about her recent poetry publication in Confluence. You can also find her poems in Hill Rag, Colloquy, and Energeia. She has been a featured poetry reader at the DC literary reading series The Inner Loop, and at the Capitol Hill Book Fest.

Beyond reading and writing, Jordi loves dance, and was the founder and coach of the dance team at The Field School. She had the great fortune to study at the Sorbonne in Paris during college, and for this reason is also a huge fan of French food (most importantly, Nutella). She is a hot chocolate connoisseur, and can tell you the best places to find hot chocolate in DC, ranked. Jordi adores working with students and discussing anything to do with books and writing (even grammar), and can’t wait to discuss with you!

Daniel Penny

February 6, 2020

Daniel Penny is an educator and writer with an MFA in creative nonfiction from Columbia University, a BA in English from Grinnell College, and an AA in liberal arts from Bard High School Early College. A Brooklyn native, he lives in Cambridge, UK and teaches creative nonfiction at the University of Cambridge Centre for Creative Writing. When he’s not teaching, he writes about art, design, and culture for The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, and elsewhere. He is also a former editorial staff-member at The New Yorker.

Since 2013, Daniel Penny has been a private tutor, writing coach, and editor, and has worked with clients at every stage of the writing process, from the blank page to the final draft. Some of these projects include: college and graduate school admissions materials, academic papers, reading responses, creative writing manuscripts, presentations, and artist statements. Daniel is also adept at helping clients improve their reading and writing standardized test scores, having achieved a perfect score himself in the reading section of the SAT.

As a professor in the first year writing program at Parsons School of Design and a former instructor at Columbia University’s Writing Center, Daniel subscribes to a writing pedagogy of agency, meaning that the student leads the session, and through targeted, yet open-ended questions from the tutor, their writing develops. To write well, Daniel believes that students must be able to read critically, and for this reason, he strongly emphasizes the techniques of close analysis, annotation, and reflection. When possible, he also encourages students to find ways to write about what they are passionate about so that students begin to see their research as an extension of their interests rather than the mere fulfillment of an assignment. His clients have included many differently abled students and students for whom English is a second language. Daniel is a committed, knowledgeable educator whose passion is to help students learn to write cogently and persuasively.

Joss Lake

February 6, 2020

Joss Lake is an educator and writer with degrees from Wesleyan University and Columbia University, as well as a teaching certificate through Cambridge University’s CELTA program. He teaches fiction and works with students on academic writing at Columbia University and Baruch College. Additionally, Joss works with high-achieving students at The School of the New York Times, which brings together journalists, educators, and experts to provide stimulating courses that range from creative writing to sustainability in fashion. He has taught writing through SEO Scholars, 826NYC, Columbia University’s Summer High School Program, and has worked in many New York City schools, bringing creativity and innovative pedagogy into ELA classrooms.

As a private tutor, Joss Lake enjoys getting to know students in a deeper way and customizing his teaching to match student needs and personalities. He brings a sense of humor, intellectual curiosity, and an open mind to his teaching practice, and is always looking to meet students where they are. He has extensive experience helping students move through all stages of the writing process and specializes in working with students on critical essays, creative writing, and the college essay. He believes that with the right amount of scaffolding and student engagement, writing assignments can be used as tools that further the student’s own thinking process.

As a writer, Joss Lake has received awards and fellowships from Columbia University, NYU’s Performance Studies program, NYFA, and the Watermill Center. He has been in residence at the Watermill Center in Water Mill, NY. His first book was published by Soft Skull press and long-listed for the PEN/Hemingway award.

Alexandra Belliveau

October 1, 2019

Alexandra Belliveau is passionate about helping students expand and enhance their knowledge of language. As a private tutor and teacher in the New York City Department of Education, Alexandra has worked with hundreds of students to improve not only their basic understandings of English, but also to excel in college-level literature classes. She has guided students through the college application process and has tutored students for the SAT or ACT. She currently works as a 7th grade ESL teacher in Queens, New York where she uses project-based learning to engage students in a meaningful exploration of the English Language. She has been known to teach English through bicycle mechanics, newspaper writing, and comic books.

Alexandra Belliveau was raised in Rochester, New York and attended Binghamton University where she majored in Comparative Literature and French Language. As an undergraduate, she spent a year in Montpellier, France where she studied urban planning and translation. After graduating, she moved to Moscow, Russia where she was an English and French teacher in a private school. While there, in addition to developing curriculum for both the English and French departments, she helped to organize a Shakespeare Festival and a school newspaper.

After two years in Russia, Alexandra returned to New York to attend Teachers College at Columbia University, where she was a Teaching Resident in the TESOL department. She has presented at several food-education conferences, including Just Food, and has continued to work as a translator from Russian to English and French to English. She is currently learning Spanish and hopes to use her knowledge of languages to continue work on a handful of journalism projects.

In her free time, Alexandra rock climbs, gardens and volunteers in her community.

Jordi Rozenman

Daniel Penny

Joss Lake

Alexandra Belliveau

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