Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Skeeter.
Hi Andrea, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started my education career in the classroom back in 2006 in Virginia. Schools were just embracing the technological age that was to come and as a young educator, I was all for it. I started teaching 2nd grade for 8 years and then moved on to Kindergarten for a year.
After teaching in the US for almost 10 years I decided to move abroad to look for the joy in teaching again. Work and life in the US was becoming unbalanced as teachers were being mandated to put in extra hours for no pay and to carry additional stress that was meant for other professionals. I started my international journey in Sudan, and I loved it immensely. I found my joy again even though I had to write the entire 1st grade curriculum for every subject.
Next my adventures took me to Guangzhou, China. Again, I learned so much about how children learn and what was appropriate for students to be successful in school and life. Most of what we were doing in the US was the exact opposite and the scores were telling the story that no one wanted to speak. I left China after 2 years and ventured to Dubai. This was an exciting time as students and parents alike both enjoyed learning. The teachers were trusted to teach. The administration understood how to support educators and parents knew how to be their child’s first teacher.
When Covid-19 happened, I returned to the US and entered back into the school system in Chicago, IL. This was a system shock in so many ways. Students, parents, and administrators were all scrambling to figure out what to do to continue to educate while keeping everyone safe. We were one of the many schools that decided to adopt virtual learning to protect everyone in the community. There were some harsh realities that everyone was having to face. Students were behind, far behind. Farther than anyone wanted to admit and we were not allowed to even begin to close the gap. So again, I decided to leave the classroom here in the US and started THE GUIDED TUTOR.
The Guided Tutor was birthed out of a need to support students that were slipping through the cracks. We are here to help parents that are aware of their child’s lack of progress. These families may not be receiving the support they need from the school system, and are willing to do whatever they have to do to ensure their success.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This journey has been as smooth as a wooden roller coaster in 1995. There were many challenges along the way, but the main one was lack of administrator support. When heads of departments and educational bureaucracy dictate what is best for teachers and students alike, actual education gets lost. I found that to be true when I was teaching a kindergarten class in a Title I school that had 25 students. Legally the maximum class size was supposed to be 17. Then we spent 45 actual school days completing assessments for these students. The sheer amount of stress that put on teachers and students, who were just learning how to be students, was unnecessary.
When I taught in the middle school grades, I had students who could not count. I was required to teach them how to use a curriculum that was so far advanced that they had no access to the information. The system itself was creating the very educational gaps it was supposed to fill.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I love teaching because I have a love of learning. Even when I am not trying to teach, I still end up teaching in some capacity. Here at The Guided Tutor we specialize in identifying student needs and using our expert educators to implement programs to meet their specific needs. Our families know and remember us because we care for and about their children. We invest in each child because the family has made an investment too.
We are most proud of our success stories. We have had students go from being in self-contained classes for all core content to only being on watch with their IEP (individualized education plan). We have helped students get into medical school, universities, and private schools.
We are a unique program because we pursue students that are having challenges academically to ensure they are getting the support they need. We are a selective program that is intentional about creating holistic changes in a students’ love for learning. We want students to not only build their confidence, but also help others when they have learned how to support themselves.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory was seeing my grandfather come down the sidewalk everyday. It was the anticipation of him coming to pick me up, give me a hug, a kiss, and hand me some coins to spend on the ice cream truck when it came by. It was the predictability of knowing someone who loved you was coming. He loved his children and grandchildren relentlessly. Once I had my candy or chips from the ice cream truck I would always offer him some and he would say, “No baby, you enjoy it.” He taught me the love of seeing others enjoy life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theguidedtutor.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_guided_tutor?stkn=MWFzbjAzNGRrczQ2NQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGuidedTutor
