Meet Silvana!
Each month, the Tutor Spotlight will showcase a dedicated Sunshine Method tutor who has illuminated the path for students, going the extra mile to inspire and engage them towards lifelong academic success.
Join our conversation with Silvana below:
Hi Silvana, we appreciate you sitting down with us today! Can you share a little about youself for our community?
I’ve been tutoring for twenty-six years now. I started in Columbia (where I'm from), a long time ago. A fun fact about me - I think I’m funny! As soon as I wake up, from when I go to sleep, everyone in my family says, “you’re fun”, my family tells me “you know what, now that you’re tutoring online, once the camera opens, you change, you're a totally different person. My dad tells me that, it’s like I jump into a new world and everything changes.
We bet the children love that energy during your sessions! What motivates you to tutor/mentor children in your community?
I started this road a long time ago as a school teacher in Columbia. We worked with nursery, pre-K, kindergarten, and transition level. I was asked to cover a maternity leave that was in transition. There I jumped into a whole new world for me.
I felt how children put a smile on my face, and how I could put a smile on their faces, so I said this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
Children definitely have a special way about them! What are some of your favorite things about tutoring?
No day is the same as the one before. I like that it's super dynamic. I like that now it’s online, whenever the camera opens, that first expression [from] my student tells me a lot. That means the job I did the day before, or the week before, was worth it. I love their expressions, their joy. I love planting hope. That’s my favorite word. There is hope.
Having children believe in themselves.
I was at a college with my son, he is going to start college soon. I was walking around and I suddenly heard someone scream, “Miss Silvi!”. I turned around, it was one of my alumni. I tutored him and I was his counselor when he was in preschool in Columbia and now he is here in the US. [All I could think was that] he is so huge, so big, so tall, so mature. I could see the joy in his face. He told me “I remember you. I remember your lessons. I remember you taught me that I was worth it, no matter how good or bad I did, life goes beyond the academics."
That's an incredible experience! What is something that a child has taught you?
[Children remind me to] be myself. Don’t plan things too much. It’s been happening to me now that I’m online. I have this whole scheme you know, super perfect plan… no. Something happens, I feel God telling me, “change it. Go this way”, I even have families, moms, talking to me asking for help. It’s going so beyond what I thought. That’s what I learned. Don’t plan it too much.
It's great when the whole family gets involved, and what an important lesson to learn! What role do you believe that education plays in a child's life?
The gift to work as a counselor, and a tutor, and a teacher at the same time. Now I can say, education is the perfect scenario to foster social-emotional skills. I know as a counselor, these skills, they are the tools kids need to walk through life. Not the academics. I’ve had children excel in so many subjects, but their self esteem is [so low]… and they are not happy. I believe education [provides] the skills that will help them overcome failures. Life is not easy. That’s education for me.
Can you describe how education has changed your life personally?
I’m a different person. I started doing therapy, adult therapy. One day, somebody [asked] me, “can you please cover a maternity leave?” as I said before. It changed everything in my life. I cannot imagine myself without kids around. Imagine me, moving with my family from Columbia, two years ago, completely lost. With all this background, all this experience. I thought, “God, what am I going to do with all this?”. This is a new country, everything is new for us. When Sunshine Method appeared in my life, Sunshine reminded me my value as a tutor. I cannot see myself without kids.
We appreciate you sharing that! What do you think it takes to be a Sunshine Method tutor?
Passion. You can have lots of ideas, lots of knowledge, but if you don’t have passion… In Spanish, we call this word “vocaccion”, that’s your calling. Lots of responsibility and commitment. That’s what we need, but most of all, passion for our job.
What advice would you give to other tutors?
I want to give other tutors the advice I received. I am a perfectionist, I remember working and working and working, imagine twenty six years going on and on and on. I was getting tired, somebody told me once, “you are not gonna do it all”. You are a station in your student’s life. You’re going to plant a seed. You should be proud of that. It doesn’t matter if your contribution is small or huge. You're making a difference. It’s like I’m building a step for them to walk, then keep succeeding. Now I enjoy everything I do remembering that I’m not going to be able to do it all.
What advice would you give a child that is struggling or lacking confidence?
I don’t focus necessarily on the academics. And that's what I try to teach them, you are not academics. I always turn around the situation. Let’s look for those things that you really like to do, that you’re really strong in. When they never expect it, and I never expect it, things start running smoothly. Because their focus is not on that, you are not the problem, you are not that. That’s not going to define you as a human being. That’s what I try to teach them. We have lots of fun and then in the third or fourth session when we really get into it, most of them say, “I’m doing it”. I don’t know if you're going to ask this question but I have to say it, I had one student say to me, “Miss Silvi, I enjoy playing with you, you’re the reason why I learn. You’ve changed everything in my life”. That for me was you know, I’m in the right place.
That's really what it's all about! When you're working with a child, do you have tips to keep them engaged during lessons?
I dedicate the first minutes to [talk with the child]. What happened to you yesterday, the day before, the week before. I try to keep track of what they tell me. I write everything down. That’s what’s gonna tell them, you're important to me. Everything they tell me, I remember. I write everything down and I start from there. We play a lot. I bring other interests to the tutoring. Go look for something, bring it to me, bring your mommy, bring your brother, bring your pet, bring everybody! That’s what has worked for me. Once the camera opens up, they say “the dance we did yesterday”, I mean they remember everything. Something I improvise, like the dance we did yesterday…? So that’s what we do.
I love that question. To find their real identity. We are living in a very hard world, a difficult world right now. I think they're getting lost. Most of them think they are what they can do. People measure all of us from there. I try to teach them to find who they are in this world. Once you get there, you're gonna overcome challenges, you're gonna move on, and you're gonna be happy. That’s my message for them.
Thank you for reading, and thank you, Silvana, for your contributions and impact on this generation!
