a relaxing way to learn language

Tutor Me This

Experience

To contact me:

Tamara Staton

9025 N Edison St

Portland, OR 97203

 

Phone: 503-703-7058

E-mail: tamara@tutormethis.com

Text Box: I suppose I could trace it all back to my experiences as a Montessori child in Cupertino, but the ball really got rolling back in high school, in Saratoga, California. Between babysitting the neighbor kids and tutoring the younger students at my high school, I created a plethora of positive experiences with youth. Eventually, these experiences developed into more formal, paid positions throughout high school, and were continued at Lewis and Clark College, in Portland, OR.

Text Box: During my summers at Lewis and Clark College, I started working at a typical day camp in Campbell, CA, first with the younger children (Sunshine Kids) and ultimately with the older pre-teens (Summer Fun Club). It was then that I was hooked. Working with adolescents and pre-teens became a passion.
Text Box: After a childhood of Spanish classes, I was ready for a new language, so I started studying German at Lewis and Clark. During my junior year, I spent a year abroad in Munich.  Not wanting to miss out on opportunities to work with children, I volunteered at a local Montessori school, and worked as a private teacher of English for  local high school and university students.

Text Box: Upon graduating from college, I decided to accept a job at Camp Manito-wish, a summer-camp in Wisconsin, working as the Assistant Outpost Coordinator for all the extended wilderness trips at the camp. This position validated my previous experience working with College Outdoors at Lewis and Clark, but allowed me the opportunity to combine the experience with my previously discovered passion of working with youth.
Text Box: After 3 seasons of summer and leadership camp in Wisconsin, I decided to turn my attention to youth with more serious struggles. I re-positioned myself in Idaho, at SUWS Wilderness Programs, for the next three years. Here, we focused less on fun, team-building experiences, and more on the importance of responsibility and accountability.





In search of a more stable lifestyle, I decided to return to Portland and turn my attention to the local at-risk youth in the social welfare system. I spent a few years working with youth and adolescents in residential living facilities (The Morrison Center), creating outdoor incentive programs where clients could trade miles hiked for various rewards. I found, however, that I sorely missed the teaching aspect of my previous positions, and went out in search of a school where I could combine my passion my passion for teaching with my beliefs about adolescents.

This realization ultimately led me to Pacific Crest Community School, where I taught German and facilitated the outdoor program for 6 wonderful years before changing my focus to raising my daughter and tutoring and teaching privately.

Education Resumé

My collective experiences have left me with piles of smiles and fond memories. But why should my experiences matter to anyone but myself? Well, as I see it, they strongly influence my teaching style...and that, in turn, affects all the students and parents with whom I come in contact. So, should you be curious, here's a bit of the history that shaped my educational philosophy...