Teacher • Tutor • Mentor
Elizabeth Webber has taught for more than 25 years in Waldorf, public, charter and independent schools. Over the years, Ms. Webber has worked with all ages – early childhood through adults – teaching art, humanities, creative writing, drama, handwork, French and Japanese. She has taught English to international students and given workshops to high school juniors on the college essay and the reading and writing portions of the SAT. Most recently, Ms. Webber led a class through eight years at Portland Waldorf School, teaching all subjects through the grades. She studied painting and textiles at Moore College of Art and Design before earning a B.A. in Sociology with a minor in American Studies at Dickinson College. She then studied teacher education at Sierra Nevada College. She completed her Waldorf foundation studies at Micha-el Institute, the four-year Applied Arts/Handwork Teacher Certificate at Fiber Craft Studio and the masters in Waldorf education at Antioch University New England. In addition to teaching, she has worked as a copy editor and buyer and manager in the design field. When she’s not teaching, Ms. Webber loves art, books, design, languages, traveling and spending time outdoors.
Each person is unique, with different gifts, challenges and goals. Tutoring and mentoring is individualized, dynamic and built upon a relationship of curiosity, interest and respect.
WRITING AND LANGUAGE TUTOR AND MENTOR
WRITING AND LANGUAGE ARTS
Ms. Webber has experience with all types of learners and will work with your student’s learning style to help them organize assignments, challenge themselves and successfully complete tasks. She works with students on generating and organizing ideas, note-taking, effective research, prewriting and editing. Ms. Webber often reads books with her students - working on vocabulary and comprehension, as well as summarizing, making connections and thinking critically. Ms. Webber’s interest in etymology leads her to help students understand meaning, thoughtfully grasp concepts and learn from assignments, rather than merely completing them.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Ms. Webber has worked with a diverse group of English language learners on grammar, vocabulary and structure of the English language. Focusing on each student’s unique needs, Ms. Webber creates individualized lessons that consider a student’s native language and its relation to English. Together, Ms. Webber works with her students on reading, writing and speaking fluency, increasing vocabulary, pronunciation, idiomatic expressions and formal/academic English vs. informal language spoken with peers.
COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY AND SAT WRITING AND LANGUAGE PREPARATION
Ms. Webber has more than fifteen years’ experience working with high school sophomores and juniors on their college application essays and the writing and language portion of the SAT. She helps students with prompts to help find meaningful topics for essays and write and edit them to highlight their unique selves.
WRITING MENTORSHIP
Ms. Webber has studied poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction with locally and nationally known writers, including former Oregon poet laureate Paulann Peterson, novelist Dorothy Allison and others. She loves working with students whose passion is writing - helping them to improve and work on a specific goal. Ms. Webber has helped students to edit books of their own poems, guided them through the writing and revision of novellas and novels and create their own comic books and zines.
ART AND HANDWORK TEACHER AND MENTOR
ART TEACHER AND MENTOR
In addition to teaching and tutoring, Ms. Webber is a working artist who utilizes her background and skills to inform her work with students. Ms. Webber helps students design an individualized plan based upon their interests and goals. Projects can include basic drawing and painting exercises, color theory, art history and use of a variety of media, including oils, acrylics, gouache, pastels, charcoal and more. Ms. Webber also helps students to prepare portfolios for admission to art school and aids them in navigating this process.
HANDWORK TEACHER AND MENTOR
Ms. Webber will work with your student on knitting, sewing, embroidery and other textile and handwork projects. Ms. Webber is an avid knitter with thirty years’ experience. She has taught students of all ages - from grade one to adults - in a variety of settings and can help your student to select materials, learn knitting math, knit their first scarf, hat, socks, sweater or explore new techniques, such as lace, cables, fair isle and more.
WALDORF TEACHER MENTOR AND EVALUATOR
Ms. Webber works with Waldorf teacher training institutes and Waldorf schools to mentor and evaluate teachers. She is available for two-three day classroom visits and written evaluations, as well as ongoing teacher mentorship and practical and pedagogical support in Waldorf schools. Ms. Webber also provides workshops for class teachers and individualized teacher support with chalkboard art, main lesson books, storytelling, movement and middle school art and writing.
Get in Touch
Ms. Webber works with students in her Milwaukie home. She tutors students from Portland, Milwaukie, Lake Oswego and surrounding areas. Tutoring sessions are typically one hour, though art lessons are often longer. When available, extended tutoring sessions can be arranged to prepare for exams and larger assignments. Please fill out the form below to request more information or to schedule a free consultation. In the message portion, please provide information about your child, including age, and specific tutoring needs or goals. Thank you for your interest!
TESTIMONIALS
Elizabeth Webber was our son Sam’s teacher for seven years, and we are very grateful for the positive impact she had on him and his education. Early on, Elizabeth helped us determine that Sam had learning differences, which led us to seek a formal assessment that resulted in a dyslexia diagnosis with suggested academic accommodations. Elizabeth was consistently positive about Sam’s many strengths while remaining aware of the areas where he struggled. She was especially adept at encouraging Sam to do his best work while honoring his individual capabilities. In the time that Elizabeth was Sam’s teacher, he showed tremendous growth both academically and socially and is now a thriving high schooler. We are most grateful for the fact that Elizabeth took the time and had the open heart to observe Sam closely, to connect with him and to display obvious, deep concern for him and his wellbeing. Whenever possible, she took a moment to relate a funny story or positive observation to us - his parents - and to express how much she appreciated having him as her student. Elizabeth is a wonderful teacher and we highly recommend her. - Sharon C.
Our child has been a pupil of Elizabeth Webber’s, since she was 7 years old and began her educational career at Portland Waldorf School. Our family has found Elizabeth to be an extremely gifted educator, artist and “Second Mom” that our daughter has had the good fortune to grow and learn from. Our daughter’s lessons have moved from the early years of thoughtful play and curiosity, to adolescence and bridging the gap into young adulthood. She is currently taking private art lessons that encompass extensive handwork projects, perspective drawing, painting, shading, realism, modernism and the additional support of building a college entrance art portfolio. I can’t emphasize enough how lucky we feel, knowing Elizabeth is a guiding force in our daughter’s life. - Heather Y.
Elizabeth is truly extraordinary in her ability to meet kids where they are and help them organize their thoughts, discover what they are capable of and meet academic challenges. Her preparation for each session and her dedication to her students is remarkable. She has a deep understanding of how to help her students overcome obstacles and enjoy the process while they do it. Both of my kids look forward to their time with her every week and I have watched them become much more confident students at school since we started working with her. We are so grateful to have her on our team. - Jordan N.
Elizabeth Webber is inspiring and personable! She seems to particularly thrive with adolescents. She is able to see the best potential in her students and nurture their talents and skills as well as stretching and growing them beyond their comfort zones. She is supportive with warmth and also has a easeful sense of humor to push through challenges. Her personal talents as an artist, a witty intellectual, and kind mentor has had a positive impact on each and every student in her class. She has been a leader of many memorable adventures as well as being a humble role model. Anyone who meets or works with Elizabeth will feel her creative spirit and energy. - J. Park
