A better connection with Dr Karla Hylton

TEENS are enigmas that few adults are capable of cracking. A combustible mix of self-discovery, social anxiety and deep-rooted angst, they are notoriously difficult to understand and almost impossible to connect with. Yet somehow, a private tutor based in Kingston is breaking ranks, acting as a mentor to her adolescent pupils. Dr Karla Hylton isn’t your typical teacher; she embraces an unconventional approach to education and as a result, her students are reaping academic success.

“I believe all pupils are capable of performing well once they are given the appropriate support,” she shared. “Private tutoring offers a unique opportunity to properly identify and address any learning challenges a student may be experiencing, which is difficult to accomplish in a traditional classroom setting.”

Dr Hylton understands first-hand that mainstream teaching methods don’t necessarily work for all children. In prep school, her son Mike was easily distracted during his classes and not earning the grades he wanted. He required patience and personalised attention, a level of support many of his teachers were simply unable to provide. Recognising her child needed some extra help, Dr Hylton began personally teaching him, and reached out to tutors to assist him in other subject areas. Over time, this one-on-one approach coupled with encouragement from his parents did wonders for Mike. He learned to set goals for himself and adopted techniques to improve his study habits, eventually taking charge of his own learning and excelling in his studies. Today he is a third year student in the Faculty of Law at the University of the West Indies, fully focused on achieving his dream job as a lawyer.

Following her own experience, Dr Hylton came to appreciate the importance of positive reinforcement in learning. For this scientist-cum-private tutor, a teaching style centred on love, care, respect and empathy has proven to be remarkably effective. She also understands that connecting with today’s youngsters means communicating on their terms through digital channels. Having fully embraced this internet-based technology, she frequently e-mails homework assignments to her pupils and posts useful information and study tips on her website

www.khylton.com. She even offers online tutoring courses through the software applicationSkype for pupils residing outside of the Corporate Area.

Beyond the classroom, Dr Hylton’s students regularly send her

WhatsApp messages, eagerly asking questions about topics they do not understand and relaying how they did on a test.

In spite of her friendly and accommodating manner, Dr Hylton is still a no-nonsense tutor. At the beginning of each session, she carefully reviews the syllabus, starting out with simple principles and gradually building up to more complicated concepts. During the last 30 minutes of class, her students go through work sheets and past exam questions to ensure they fully understand the material they were taught. Well-organised and efficient, Dr Hylton quickly grades and assesses papers, zeroing in on each of her pupils’ problem areas and developing tailor-made strategies to improve their test performance.

The result of this multidimensional, student-teacher dynamic is that Dr Hylton enjoys a 100 per cent pass rate for her high school students sitting CSEC examinations, and in 2015, she even had one of her pupils place nationally in both biology and chemistry.

“I really appreciated Dr Hylton’s teaching style, as it allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the CSEC biology curriculum,” said Maya Ricketts, a former student of Dr Hylton. “She has taught me how to properly apply my knowledge during tests, a technique I continue to use in my tertiary studies.”

Dr Karla Hylton enjoys helping people, and through her tutoring programme she is assisting students with gaining an edge on standardised tests and achieving excellent results. By adopting a firm yet personalised approach to teaching and embracing new technology, she has figured out a way to decode the teenage mind, improve her pupils’ testing capabilities, and boost their overall academic performance.