Presentation Skills / Public Speaking Archives

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.

Lois Nesbitt

September 9, 2019

A passionate lifelong student, teacher, and private tutor, Lois Nesbitt believes that learning is the core of a meaningful life. Much of what we learn comes from reading; discovering what we know comes through writing. Fascinated from an early age by the power of words, she believes that lively and engaging writing is always a joy to read—and to write!

Lois Nesbitt was educated at Sidwell Friends School, in Washington, D.C., and at topnotch public schools in Montgomery County, Maryland. At Sidwell Friends she benefited from learning among academically motivated classmates following a creative yet demanding curriculum. At public schools she experienced teachers accommodating a diverse student population while guiding her through rigorous AP courses. Both proved invaluable in her own teaching within and beyond formal academic settings.

A gifted middle-school professor provided Lois’s first rigorous training in expository writing, skills she has applied and shared with others throughout her life. Journalism courses at Stanford University trained her to hone each story down to its bare bones. She wrote a weekly column for The Stanford Daily and began freelance writing for Archetype, a cutting-edge architectural magazine.

Transferring to Harvard University in her junior year, Lois wrote for The Harvard Crimson and served on the Arts Board of The Harvard Advocate. Lois studied art history, literature, history, philosophy, history of science/epistemology, and social studies, graduating with a B.A., Magna cum laude.

Lois Nesbitt furthered her education at Princeton University. Entering the architecture department, she found herself drawn back to the liberal arts. A series of sympathetic mentors encouraged her to enroll in courses in literature, linguistics, philosophy, classics, and modern languages. The result was a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. Lois taught expository writing and American literature to Princeton undergraduates, working in small seminars and one-on-one sessions to equip struggling writers with the tools they needed and to expand the skills of more advanced writers. She brings this experience to all students, from middle school through to adults, who want to develop or refine their abilities to write powerfully and effectively.

Lois credits the extraordinarily gifted professors at these universities for modeling how complex ideas can be conveyed in simple terms and clear examples, as well as how to encourage students to think analytically and synthetically across a range of fields and disciplines.

Lois Nesbitt has worked as a freelance writer and editor in New York City. Her literary and book reviews and art/architecture criticism have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Boston Phoenix, Princeton Alumni Weekly, Artforum, Artnews, Elle, and many books, catalogues, and other publications. Lois also edited and revised books for Princeton University Press, MIT Press, Rizzoli International, the Museum of Modern Art, and others. Going over texts line by line honed her ability to spot each writer’s strengths and weaknesses, from overall organization to stylistic grace and grammatical correctness.

For the past 25 years, Lois has met every challenge a teacher and private tutor can face while training countless students in her second love, yoga. Her passion to share what she knows led her to create dozens of yoga teacher-training programs worldwide. These 200-hour intensives require that Lois skillfully keep students awake(!) and engaged. She does so with varied formats, lively presentations, interactive exercises, and a healthy dose of light-hearted humor. Students learn yoga postures, anatomy, history, and philosophy, and the art of teaching itself: how to convey complex ideas through plain language, economical phrasing, precise diction, and classical rhetorical skills. Lois in turn brings these skills to aspiring writers in her tutoring sessions.

Lois’s other passions include art and design. Her artwork has been exhibited internationally. Most recently she has focused on graphic works, limited-edition objects, and custom-designed events for organizations including The Nature Conservancy, Harvard University, The Boston Harbor Association, Hoops for Hope, and The Group for the East End. She spends much of her playtime in, on, or close to her beloved Atlantic Ocean.

Andrea Simons

October 28, 2017

Andrea Simons is a writing consultant at Grace Church High School, where she helps students with academic essays, college admissions essays, creative writing, and other assignments. She received her B.A. from Tufts University. Andrea helps students outline arguments, form clear and concise thesis statements, and remain committed to their paper’s direction while strengthening their grammar and style skills. Andrea takes a patient and fun approach to writing coaching, helping her students express themselves and personalize their work in order to maximize their potential.

Andrea has had the pleasure of watching her students’ hard work pay off. Former students have had their work rewarded via Scholastic Awards, publication in Teen Vogue, scholarship awards, and more. Andrea encourages students to submit their work to contests and scholarships including including The Iowa Young Writers’ Studio, Hispanic Scholarship Fund, The Betty Award, The Scholastic Awards, and more.

Andrea also helps students with application essays, including personal statements, college supplements, and internship essays. Her students have received acceptances at Harvard, Dartmouth, UPenn, Cornell, Northwestern, Oberlin, University of Michigan, NYU, and many more universities. Andrea works with students to ensure that their writing is clear, concise, and purposeful. She works closely with each student to highlight another piece of their story that may not be present in other parts of the application.

Andrea is also a screenwriter and comedian, and her work has been featured at NewFest, the Women in Comedy Festival, NY Comedy Festival, and more. She is able to adapt her voice to different writing mediums, from script analysis to journalism to fiction. In her free time, she enjoys writing at The Lost Draft and performing comedy.

Brad Hoffman

April 28, 2017

Brad Hoffman, Educational Consultant and C0-Founder of My Learning Springboard (MLS), has always loved working with students and their families. He believes in the power of collaboration and advocates for a holistic, 360-degree view of education that is grounded in sensibility and balance. Brad and his wife, Faya Hoffman, founded My Learning Springboard in 2009.

Brad and Faya partner with each family to provide an integrated and meaningful experience, which often includes collaboration with school faculty and related service professionals at a family’s request. Through their unique structure and individualized approach, they offer a wide range of services to students, families, and schools. They see learning as a lifelong journey, and their goal is to help students of all ages enjoy the ride, build confidence, and achieve success.

Brad and Faya are both Board Certified Educational Planners (a specialized type of Educational Consultant) and Learning Specialists. As a boutique multidisciplinary educational consulting firm and Learning Concierge® service, My Learning Springboard offers a wide range of educational consulting services at every level from nursery through college.

These services include:

Our school planning and placement expertise includes both day schools and boarding schools across mainstream, specialized, and therapeutic settings as well as virtual schools and homeschooling.

Professional Associations

Brad Hoffman is a Board Certified Educational Planner (AICEP) and Professional Member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) with specialty designations in mainstream day and boarding schools, specialized schools for students with learning disabilities, and therapeutic placements, including therapeutic boarding schools, residential treatment centers, and wilderness programs. He is also a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) as well as the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP).

My Learning Springboard is a member of ISAAGNY, a consortium of independent schools in and around New York City, and Brad Hoffman C0-Chairs the committee Friends of ISAAGNY, which includes educational consultants and community-based organizations. My Learning Springboard is also a member of The Enrollment Management Association (EMA, formerly SSATB) as well as WISER, the Washington Independent Services for Educational Resources (WISER), which is a network of professional leaders in the Washington, DC metro area.

Brad Hoffman’s Teaching Background

Over the past 25 years, Brad Hoffman has worked with students from pre-kindergarten through Fortune 500 executives as a classroom teacher, tutor, curriculum writer, human resources talent development specialist, and educational consultant. Brad graduated magna cum laude from Penn State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and then received a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction at Hood College in Maryland graduating with honors. He is also an Elementary Math and Science Specialist and holds an Advanced Professional Teaching Certificate from the state of Maryland. Brad is trained in PAF Reading Intervention, an Orton-Gillingham based approach, Sounds In Motion, Read Naturally, Singapore Math, Everyday Math, and a variety of other programs and curriculum standards. In 2014, Brad was honored with the prestigious Penn State Alumni Achievement Award in honor of his significant contributions to the field of education.

My Learning Springboard | Company Overview

Watch this video on YouTube

During his undergraduate career, Brad Hoffman was an Assistant Teacher at Penn State’s Bennett Family Center (formerly called the Penn State Child Care Center) during all four years of college. He worked with children ages birth through 5 and participated in the center’s accreditation process with NAEYC. During his senior year of college, Brad was a Teacher Intern in England while studying at University of Chichester. There he taught a Year 2 class (ages 6/7) at an Infant School in all areas of the curriculum, including literacy, numeracy, technology, science, religion, history, PE, and Art. Upon graduation, Brad accepted a full-time lead teaching position in Frederick County, Maryland in a fully inclusive public school setting located in a rural part of the county. Children with both learning differences and physical disabilities were fully integrated in the regular classroom. One-third of Brad’s students had dyslexia and received specialized intervention, and two of his students were children with autism.

“While it was really challenging, I learned so much about how to differentiate classroom instruction for all types of learners, which is critical for any productive learning to occur.”

Brad played an integral part in facilitating his students’ Individualized Education Programs (IEP), a documented plan to help meet the unique needs of an individual learner with a learning disability. This assistance often required a team of related services experts to meet, ranging from the speech language specialist and school psychologist, to the parents, principal, and teacher(s). Working collaboratively always led to increased professionalism and greater student success.

In 2001, Brad relocated to Bethesda, Maryland to pursue a teaching position with Montgomery County Public Schools, one of the leading public school systems in the United States. He taught first and fourth grades at Somerset Elementary School in Chevy Chase, Maryland for five years, differentiating instruction for students at, below, or above grade level in addition to working with students identified as gifted and talented. Somerset is an internationally diverse community and one of the highest ranked elementary schools in Maryland; it is also a model Inclusion Program school. During this time, Brad earned his Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction and partnered with the Somerset Educational Foundation, school faculty, and the school counselor to develop K-5 Service Learning curricula. Brad presented his curriculum work at both the county and state departments of education and was named a Maryland Service-Learning Fellow.

Brad Hoffman’s Corporate Background

In 2006, Brad Hoffman moved to New York City to start his second career in Human Resources with Time Inc., a Fortune 100 Media Company. As an educator, Brad brought a unique perspective to Corporate America and focused on Talent Development. He worked with clients across locations, divisions, and countries – over 5,000 employees – to design and implement customized learning solutions and strategic recruiting efforts to attract, develop, and retain talented employees. Brad also designed and managed summer internship programs for college and MBA students interested in media, general management, finance, and marketing career paths. These programs were designed as 10-week projects so that management could assess intern performance on authentic, thoughtful, and substantive tasks, while interns were also able to assess the company as a good fit for starting their careers.

Brad Hoffman’s LinkedIn profile

Brad Hoffman

My Learning Springboard, Inc.

Board Certified Educational Planner

A multidisciplinary educational consulting firm specializing in school planning, academic tutoring, and test preparation.

Upper West Side

New York,NY

10024

brad@mylearningspringboard.com

Phone: +1 (646) 580-9794

Last edited Jun 9, 2026 @ 11:42 pm

Zachary Young

March 26, 2017

Zachary Young grew up in New York City and graduated from the Brooklyn Technical High School. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Professional Writing at S.U.N.Y. Cortland. Then he completed his Master’s degree at Relay Graduate School of Education while simultaneously teaching full time with the New York City Department of Education. Zach also taught 6th grade writing at a charter school. Before teaching in New York City, Zach worked for the New Jersey Department of Education coaching public speaking and debate teams with middle and high school students. He ultimately left the classroom to focus full time on private tutoring and providing individualized support.

Zach is a skilled ELA instructor, having taught Reading and Writing in New York City schools, and can help students build skills to decipher even the most difficult texts in any subject area. In addition to English, Zach has taught Social Studies and can assist students in History, Political Science, and Geography. He has worked closely with parents as a classroom teacher, and understands the importance of constant communication for student success. He has years of experience adjusting learning exercises and lessons to suit the needs of each student and has various ways of differentiating learning materials using Individualized Education Programs. Zach is devoted to meeting each student where he or she is and building upon his/her strengths. In order to ensure his student’s success and independence, Zach will help his students with how they learn in addition to what they learn. He works to help them gain self-awareness, confidence, and the strategies to address their own academic shortcomings. Through executive function coaching, Zach reduces academic stress by helping students tackle problems efficiently and manage the meta-work. Checklists, planners, and organizational instruction are some of the ways he has assisted with the growth of past honor roll students as well as students who struggled to achieve their potential.

Zach’s teaching philosophy is that each unique student requires consistent and special focus to have sustained growth. When he isn’t helping his students, Zach can often be found performing sketch comedy around Manhattan and Brooklyn, or doing improv comedy with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Zach is a proud nerd and can’t pass up an opportunity to discuss the latest video games or upcoming Superhero movies.

Joss Lake

Lois Nesbitt

Andrea Simons

Zachary Young

Company Overview

School Planning

Private Tutoring

Test Preparation