NAME:
Alison (ALI) Bayer (Orszak)
Working Together makes Learning Better:
You will hear me saying " write it down"
CLASS:
Kindergarten through University Test Prep Thesis Help Business English
to reach me call: :
647 348 8436 or email direct: mytutoringspace@live.ca
Hello,
Welcome to the English Academics with Alison website.
I am happy to share information about all aspects of learning and Improving
English language skills from the initial steps into reading/writing and
speaking the language for my ESL students, children and adults, to the basics
in how to help at home with early readers, junior kindergarten and up, to the
improvements in Essay Writing, for the pre-University and College bound.
My background is both varied and extensive. I took an honours BA in
Anthropology here, in Toronto, at York University, where I thoroughly enjoyed
being an Undergrad. After commuting back and forth between Manhattan and
Toronto in a joint business venture with my then husband, I moved to
Manhattan and began a double master's program enrolling in both Bank Street
College of Education and Columbia University in the City of New York. At Bank
Street I focused on Teaching Through the Arts, did a practicum at Sarah
Anderson school for the Gifted, then located within PS 9 ( Public School #9)
and an internship at the New-York Historical Society. At the New-York
Historical Society I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting and working
with a variety of teachers, and encouraging them to become as engaged as I
was in using a museum as an adjunct classroom. At Columbia, I continued to
pursue studies in all four strands of Anthropology, archeology, linguistics,
physical anthropology, and cultural anthropology. Small class sizes made for
lively discussions and the city itself became a learning space as I and my
fellow students were encouraged to participate in all that Manhattan had to
offer. One summer found me interviewing street performers, another visiting
all the cultural institutions for "homework". I intend to encourage all of
you to learn about Toronto in similar fashion.
Back in Toronto, and a single mom in the late 1990s found me enrolling at
OISE/UT to learn more about Ontario's education system. And was Toronto ever
undergoing changes in its high-school curriculum! The phasing out of Grade
thirteen and the ensuing double cohort put extra pressure on students for a
couple of years, and on local campuses. I had been unfamiliar with Grade
Thirteen as I grew up on the prairies and the pre-University preparation year
was unique to Ontario. While many students and teachers did express relief
at the new 12 year educational focus, other students, parents and teachers
continue to lament that one additional year. While tutoring and teaching at a
variety of learning institutions, I have met with many students who, for a
number of reasons, continue to take their time before graduating and build in
an additional year via (semester) course work. - Still others graduate 1/2
year ahead, using the same semester system.
At OISE I continued to learn about learning outside of the classroom
environment, and today can be found volunteering at the ROM, continuing my
belief in encouraging learning on an ongoing basis. I also began to actively
participate in adult ESL programs, and have instructed at both Durham College
and York University's YUELI as well as at New College, University of
Toronto.
Toronto's diverse population is gaining global recognition and I consider
myself fortunate to have been able to teach within both public and private
schools in the city. In moving between the public and the private
institutions I have been able to recognize the ways in which values permeate
an educational curriculum and how communication via English language skills
bridges the gap throughout all grade levels, all course materials, and all
local communities. I hope to continue to help build bridges through
assisting with English language learning at all levels of Academic
enrichment.
To share my learning and experience in the most inclusive and productive way.
To encourage others to think of learning and improving in English Language
Skills as an ongoing, interactive, community building experience. And to put
into practice a simple belief that collaborative learning works.
Think, Create, Perform, Commit to Practice and Improve.
A simple formula, not a recipe, leaving space for YOU!
Approach Learning Intelligently
warm regards,
Alison (ALI)