Educator Spotlight: Rachel H.
What Subject Areas Do You Tutor?
- Academic Tutoring: Reading comprehension, writing, elementary education, and Spanish
Where did you receive your education?
- University of Oregon, B.A. in Public Relations
What’s the most rewarding part of being a tutor?
Seeing a student gain confidence in a subject or skill they didn’t think they were good at. Of course, seeing each student improve is rewarding, but sometimes it takes them a little while to trust and believe in themselves. When they do, that’s when I know I’ve done my job as a tutor and educator.
I also enjoy using unconventional teaching methods. Sometimes students will be surprised that they can learn in a different way than they do in school– like learning math outside. That’s the benefit of having a tutor working with them one-on-one; we can try new approaches that support learning and reinforce the material in a way that’s specialized to the student’s needs.
What are the most common areas you see your students struggling in? How do you help them in those areas?
I help a lot of students with reading comprehension and getting their reading skills up to or beyond their grade level. The best way to do that is to have students read more– in sessions and outside of tutoring sessions. Just 30 minutes a day of supervised reading can really help them improve.
Think of it as a student conditioning like an athlete every day. Their tutoring sessions with me are like their skill days, or personal training days, where we can do more outside of just reading together. We can practice vocabulary, reading comprehension, story composition, and even write together. All of these things reinforce reading skills and help students improve.
What do you enjoy doing outside of tutoring students?
I enjoy reading, working out, cooking, and spending time outside. I enjoy walking around my neighborhood, going to the park, and being out in beautiful Pasadena.
What do you think makes Hodis Learning & Music a great service and company to work for?
Drew Hodis cares deeply about what he does. He cares about us as educators and helps us be the best we can be. He listens to feedback and advocates for his employees.
Drew also cares about student satisfaction and success because he himself values learning and education. And to top it all off, he also cares about the community he lives and works in.
He has valuable knowledge of the local school curriculum and standards, which allows him to help students more effectively.
I believe all these things make Hodis Learning & Music a great service and company to work for and I’m excited to see us grow!
It’s a company I really believe in and feel good about sharing when I hear someone is looking for tutoring, music lessons, or art lessons.
Drew is Hodis Learning & Music’s Founder and President. He has been tutoring and teaching music for more than 12 years. Drew earned his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Southern California and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Adelphi University.