Paul H.

Paul is an enthusiastic educator with experience in teaching and developing elementary and high school courses, instructional design, and online learning. He also has extensive experience tutoring and mentoring elementary, high school, and adult students in a range of subjects including English, creative writing, media studies, art, and philosophy. Paul is a great proponent of mentorship and believes that inspiration is the most valuable thing he can impart on his students.
Paul graduated from the University of Toronto in 2015 with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in English literature and visual studies. Subsequently he completed his TESOL certificate at Woodsworth Collage and worked for various private English language schools. Teaching English language learners provided Paul with the opportunity to meet people from all over the world, as well as use innovative digital textbooks to deliver lessons.
Paul received his Master of Teaching degree from OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education). There he conducted a small-scale research study on Self-Regulated Learning (SRL). He synthesized some of the literature on SRL and published them in The MT Review under the title, Self-Regulated Learning: The Role of Motivation and Emotions on Student Learning. Paul’s interest in education stems from his fascination with the human mind, how students learn, and under which conditions students learn best.
Currently Paul works for D2L (Desire to Learn) a global software company that created the learning management system, Brightspace. At D2L he works on creating innovative online courses for students all over the world.
When he’s not at work, Paul likes to spend his time writing creatively, and expanding his world view by reading literature, philosophy, and theoretical physics. He also enjoys outdoor activities including running, hiking, cycling, and cannoning.

ABBI I.

Abbi has a Bachelor from the University of Toronto, majoring in Cognitive Science, with minors in English and Philosophy. She then went on to complete her Bachelors in Education at Queens University. Since graduating, Abbi has been part of the Toronto District School Board, where she has worked in a variety of K-6 classrooms for the past 4 years. Specialising in Educational Technology, Abbi’s teaching centres around special education, and cross-curricular connections. Currently, Abbi is a Grade 2/3 teacher.

Edison O.

Edison Osorio is a certified teacher by the Ontario College of Teachers. He currently teaches a grade 7/8 split French Immersion class at Rockcliffe Middle School.

 Edison was born in Colombia in the mid 80’s. Before establishing himself self as an elementary school teacher in Toronto. He also had the chance to live in Florence, Italy, New York, and Montreal. As a result, he is now highly proficient in his native Spanish tongue as well in English and French. 

He holds a Master of Teaching degree from OISE since 2015, and completed his undergraduate studies at OCAD University in 2012. For the last five years, he has been teaching in the Toronto District School Board – grades 1-8. This includes all of the study subjects as well as ample experience in teaching Core French and French Immersion programs. 

During his studies at OISE, Edison had the chance to complete a practicum at The York School, which allowed him to gain experience teaching in a private school setting. His teaching experience also includes tutoring students in grades 4-12 and leading after-school programs.

 Edison is an avid cyclist, urban hiker and a big sports fan. He is also passionate about art, music and delicious food and, most of all, pastries.

 Edison’s motto as an educator is simple: He considers his students’ success to be his own success.

NIOUSHA D.

Niousha started her post-secondary studies in Mechanical Engineering. Later due to her enthusiasm for teaching, she switched programs and graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Science with honors in Mathematics for Education. She completed her Bachelor of Education in the Intermediate/Senior grade levels at Nipissing University. She completed her teaching internship in the Embank Junior Academy, where she taught in a split Grade 7 and 8 classroom with a few students working at grade level 4 and 6 for math. During this time, she voluntarily stayed in the classroom during all lunch and snack breaks to give personalized one-on-one support and help students who had fallen behind in math catch up. While completing her undergraduate degree, Niousha was given an opportunity to tutor a group of grade 8 gifted students to prepare for the Math Kangaroo Competition. Knowing that the students sacrificed their weekends to be in her classes, she filled the class time with all kinds of fun games and activities such as pretend auctions and dice rolling competitions for learning probability. Before Niousha started tutoring, she worked as a Mad Scientist for a year and taught tons of safe science activities including explosions, launching a rocket, and making slime. Through her experiences, Niousha has developed a deep passion for working with children and youth and guiding them to reach their full potential while having fun. Alongside having years of teaching experience at primary and intermediate levels, Niousha also tutored students at university and high school levels where she ran personalized interactive lessons. Niousha believes that education should adapt to students’ readiness and interests in order to enhance their curiosity and confidence and that it is the teacher’s job to learn about their students, make these adaptations and engage them in an effective learning environment. In her spare time, Niousha enjoys painting, sculpting, and resin art, as well as spending time with her friends and family.

LYDIA S.

Lydia is always searching for opportunities to integrate her love of writing with her ongoing visual arts practice. She believes that a holistic approach to academic disciplines is the most effective strategy toward fostering a lifelong love of learning in her students.

Lydia graduated summa cum laude from McMaster University’s Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts program with a minor in English. At the conclusion of her undergraduate degree, she was granted the Ignition Award for Distinction in her program. She went on to graduate from Western University’s Master of Fine Arts program, in which she was awarded the Dean’s Entrance Scholarship, Chair’s Entrance Scholarship, as well as three Graduate Research Scholarships throughout the program’s duration. She is currently a teacher candidate at Brock University with teachables in English and Visual Art.

Lydia has experience with lesson planning, differentiated instruction, and designing assessments in both senior/intermediate English and Visual Art. She is also familiar with the corresponding curricula at the junior level. Lydia’s priorities include: fostering writing strategies for legibility and conciseness, employing invisible and ongoing assessments for- and as- learning, rubric deconstruction, information chunking, and executive function reinforcement (organizational strategies, focusing techniques, task-shifting strategies, self-monitoring, etc.)

When she is not teaching or tutoring, she spends her time reading, making art, and volunteering for arts organizations in Hamilton and London, Ontario.

DEVON L.

Hey my name is Devon!

I am a recent graduate of the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Education Middle Year’s Stream but love working with early years as well! I have had experience teaching from Grades K-8 and I believe that at its core, learning stems from trusting relationships and understanding a students strengths, weaknesses and interests. I use these to personalize my teaching and make learning as fun as possible for the student.

I always loved school when I was personally interested in what I was learning and that’s what I strive to do for the student in every personally tailored lesson.

I look forward to working with you!

ALLIE M.

Allie is an Ontario-certified Primary/Junior teacher with additional qualifications in special education as well as Intermediate English and math. After completing both her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education at Queen’s University, Allie was honoured with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario’s Faculty of Education award. After graduating, Allie moved to England to work in a specialist setting for children with a range of needs. There, Allie taught small groups of middle school students their subjects in a primary-style classroom, catching them up on curriculum they had missed in their mainstream schools. Allie’s desire to engage students of all educational backgrounds stems from her volunteer work with organizations such as Holland Bloorview, Canadian National Institute for the Blind and Making Waves. These experiences have taught Allie the importance of tailoring learning to the individual student and incorporating their interests wherever possible. Allie also recognizes the role of resilience in learning, helping her students build both academic and emotional skills simultaneously. Like her students, Allie is always learning, collecting certifications from organizations such as the Geneva Centre for Autism, TRIBES and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). At present, Allie is pursuing her Master of Education, where she works as a Teaching Assistant for pre-service teachers studying inclusion. When Allie isn’t at work or school, she can be found reading, cooking, learning Braille, doing yoga, or hanging out with her dog Charlie!

SHANNON J.

Shannon is a caring dedicated teacher, who is motivated by the belief that all students can be successful learners.
She holds a Bachelor of Education through York university in the primary and junior divisions, as well as additional qualifications to teach all subjects of the intermediate division, Special Education and Physical Education.
Shannon is a proud teacher for the Peel District School Board, having taught Kindergarten through Grade 8, she currently teaches in the primary division, adapting her teaching methods and materials to meet her students’ varying needs and interest, focusing on development of critical literacy and numeracy skills. Shannon promotes mental, social, and physical development in her students and encourages them to be “their best self” through her support of classroom and school wide student involvement. When she is not teaching in the classroom, Shannon is helping students build their confidence and skills through her leadership of various teams, clubs and committees such as Chess Club, Basketball Team, Asian Heritage Committee, Recycling Club, and Lego Robotics Club to name a few.

NICOLLE B.

Nicolle graduated from Eastern Connecticut State University (USA) with an Honours Bachelor of Science degree and is entering her second year of her Bachelor of Education program at Brock University. She is specialized in teaching the primary/junior grades (k-6) but has qualifications in special education and English up to grade 12. Nicolle is familiar with EQAO and volunteers to scribe each year at different schools across Halton. This year, Nicolle taught all subjects in a grade 5/6 class, with a focus on grade 6 EQAO practice. Combining what she has learned at Brock and in her practicums, Nicolle has been able to develop different methods and styles of teaching to reach differentiated learners. Through her inclusive teaching practices and interactive lessons, Nicolle creates a fun and positive learning environment where students feel comfortable to explore new and different ways of thinking. She has tutored in the past and has also worked with little readers programs teaching students as young as 3 to start reading. Nicolle feels that it is extremely important to get to know her students and find out how they learn to forge a unique path to success for each individual student. On her spare time, Nicolle loves to read, watch hours of cooking shows and then attempt (and fail) at making the recipes and gardening. Tomatoes are her specialty!

TAMARA M.

Tamara has been an Ontario Certified Teacher (O.C.T.) since 2005, teaching grades K-12 across most subject areas. Tamara held a variety of classroom teaching positions with the York Region District School Board for 11 years before transferring to private education, then more recently, tutoring. Tamara is certified and trained in specialized reading programs such as Direct Instruction (D.I) and Wilson Reading Systems (WRS). She has Teachables in the following subjects: Reading, Primary/Junior Mathematics, Special Education, Visual Arts, Instrumental/Vocal Music, and Guidance/Career Studies. Tamara also holds a Master’s of Psychology from Chicago School of Professional Psychology, specializing in Child/Adolescent development and behavior. (M.A. Psych) She is certified in Mental Health First Aid/Crisis Intervention (M.H.F.A., 2018), and has co-facilitated a therapy group for counseling children ages 7-9 years who present with A.D.D./A.D.H.D. at Kinark Family Services. As well, at Prep Academy Tutors, Tamara teaches and coaches students at all grade levels, and differentiates instruction for a variety of learning needs and diagnosed learning challenges,  supporting them through many academic, and social-emotional  challenges. Tamara believes in a holistic approach to teaching, and designs lessons that adhere to most recent evidence-based teaching practice (such as learning for/as/of understanding), develop social-emotional learning (SEL), which promotes students’ overall intellectual, social/emotional and mental needs. Outside of teaching, Tamara enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, as well as reading, exercise, painting, and photography.