Conversation-based learning with mentors who lead their academic field.
Students develop the 6 critical 21st century skills
Oxford Tutorial System
Discussion-based learning
Confidence
Belief in their abilities, desire to participate in class
Communication
Oral & written strategies for lively yet respectful discussions
Critical Thinking
Explore and engage with the world with a curious mind
Collaboration
Like-minded peers build healthy bonds
Socratic Method
The passion of discovery through conversation, research and presentation
Creativity
The desire to explore, create and invent
Oxford Tutorial
Discussion-based learning
Confidence
Belief in their abilities, desire to participate in class
Communication
Oral & written strategies for lively yet respectful discussions
Critical Thinking
Explore and engage with the world with a curious mind
Collaboration
Like-minded peers build healthy bonds
Socratic Method
The passion of discovery through conversation, research and presentation
Creativity
The desire to explore, create and invent
To be honest my mom made me take this class. I didn't want to take it but actually after the first class it was fun because the teacher was interesting and taught in a way I didn't experience before. He asked me a lot of questions and I learned a lot.
Course Selection
Debate
Debate is primarily a persuasive activity. Students give prepared or extemporaneous speeches (depending on the event) and their arguments are judged against the arguments of other competitors on their merits and persuasiveness. Debate can also be an adversarial activity, meaning that students speak in response to the points made by their opponents (this means that debaters respond directly to what their opponents say, and the winner is determined based on who “won” the arguments).
Debate
Debate is primarily a persuasive activity. Students give prepared or extemporaneous speeches (depending on the event) and their arguments are judged against the arguments of other competitors on their merits and persuasiveness. Debate can also be an adversarial activity, meaning that students speak in response to the points made by their opponents (this means that debaters respond directly to what their opponents say, and the winner is determined based on who “won” the arguments).
Figurative Language
This class prepares students to deepen their reading comprehension and boost their creative writing skills! Students will learn to differentiate between literal and figurative language by studying seven different figures of speech. They will analyze the meaning of similes and metaphors in the context of poems and stories, explain the meaning of common idioms used in English conversation, and identify examples of hyperbole, personification, alliteration, and onomatopoeia. Explore the English language in fun, new ways!
Book Club
This provides practice in oral reading fluency, expressive reading, public speaking, and reading comprehension. Our program invites small groups of four to six children to read, formulate opinions, and discuss stories. This gives kids the chance to discover what aspect of books interest them most. Often, the thing that prevents children from really exploring literature is a misunderstanding of what is available to them.
Book Club
This provides practice in oral reading fluency, expressive reading, public speaking, and reading comprehension. Our program invites small groups of four to six children to read, formulate opinions, and discuss stories. This gives kids the chance to discover what aspect of books interest them most. Often, the thing that prevents children from really exploring literature is a misunderstanding of what is available to them.
Writing Workshop
Students often come to a writing task with infinite stories to tell and examples to share, but equally infinite fear of not writing “correctly.” It is this fear that prevents them from exploring with language and finding their own voice in their writing. It is this fear that we English teachers must help students negotiate in order not only to write, but also to compose with sophistication, style, and ease.
I love the style and the structure of the writing workshop. I wish it could go on forever. I am looking forward to what you are going to do next. I would like to work on something that incorporates classic American literature.
Program Director
Megan Gross, M. Ed.
Miss Megan is a certified teacher with over 12 years experience teaching students how to read, write, and speak English. She has a Master’s degree in Education with a Reading Specialist Endorsement from Viterbo University in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Additionally, she completed her Master’s degree in Education Leadership and PreK-12th grade Principal Licensure from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Her areas of expertise include elementary curriculum, early literacy skills and phonics. She has worked as a classroom teacher and instructional coach for schools in the United States, and loves sharing the joy of reading with her students! Her goal is to ensure each lesson is fun, engaging, and matches the student’s individual learning targets.
Rigorous Academic Environment
Each course is taught by a real English teacher with years of substantial experience and excellence in their field. Students accustom themselves to the rigorous, socratic style of western college lectures.
In the class setting, we drill proper critical thinking and discussion skills. The Socratic Method, discussion style learning, is an integral part of the American/ western style college experience. Students will regularly be required to engage in discussion and be able to explain and defend their opinions in class.
Academic conversations and argumentation with native speakers build confidence and empower students to believe that they can effectively communicate. As their confidence grows with more practice, the better speakers they become. When they become more natural speakers, engaging in academic environments becomes less intimidating.