Why Me?

I have been tutoring for 7 years and have gotten amazing responses from tons of students, parents, and teachers. I haven't just had good experiences, I have gotten amazing test scores and grades from my previous students. I've done both private tutoring for a long time and for the math clubs at both Palmetto Middle & TERRA (my middle and high schools).

I also don't wanna toot my own horn but I think it might be necessary to show why I'd be qualified in teaching math.

• I have gotten an A in every math class I've taken

• I've passed every EOC and AP exam with a 4 or 5, including (but not limited to)

  • 5 on the Algebra 1 EOC and Geometry EOC

  • 5 on AP Calc AB & BC and AP Stats

• I got a perfect score on the math sat 4 times in a row (my best score was a 1500 total). 

• I've written calculus notes for AP Calc AB & BC, college level Calc 1, 2, & 3, and college level Differential Equations (see the notes tab above!)

So... I usually know what I am doing in these subjects.

After doing 7 years of all types of tutoring and doing well in all these math subjects, I have developed several different methods to tutor my students as effectively as possible. Below are some of the methods I use:

Friendliness: 

When I tutor students, I try not to be a tutor but instead just a friend. I feel that interrupting sessions occasionally with funny stories, talks about our days, jokes, and other fun conversations make the student feel more at home and more comfortable learning, being themself, and asking questions. Those are the most important things to have in a student, as they need to feel as comfortable as they can in order to learn the best. This website is definitely a more serious one, but hopefully you can see my personality and sense of humor shine through the few jokes I threw in here.

Teaching a Backbone:

There are two ways to teach any concept in math: memorizing how to complete a problem and teaching critical thinking. Obviously, there is a more effective way to learn anything, which is critical thinking. This is best shown through my SAT tutoring, where I don't just show a student how to do a specific problem by having them memorize a specific formula or plugging it into a graphing calculator. Instead, I make sure that they truly understand a concept before tackling problems, as I want to make sure they would be able to take on a problem of anything related to that and not relying on their memory to complete a problem similar to one they remember solving. 

I once had a student that was doing SAT prep and could not solve an equation correctly. Instead of quickly showing them and moving on to linear equations, I spent a week making sure she could tackle any type of equation in any situation, so that they could do it in any SAT problem in the future. The backbone of knowing how to solve an equation really helped her understand several math concepts down the line.

Homework:

I think assigning homework is genuinely a great way to make sure students are practicing outside of the actual tutoring sessions. Students can do great in classes/sessions, but what really shows that they understand concepts is if they are able to replicate what they learned fully on their own. Yes, I hate homework just as much as any other student, but even I can recognize the value of  completing a small amount of specific problems that make sure students can nail a concept.

I mostly assign homework through Khan Academy, IXL, or Bluebook practice exams (for SAT). Other practices may be used.

Being Understanding:

I think this might be the most important thing that I do while tutoring. A tutor needs to be understanding of any situation that can happen to a student. A great example of this is that if a student doesn't complete their homework, I always ask to see if I'm assigning too much, if what I assign is too hard, or any other underlying situations that could be preventing the student from completing it. It is not always the student's fault and it is important to make sure I am doing everything correctly. Trust me, I've had my fair share of teachers that do not follow this concept and I do everything in my power to make sure those bad things never happen with my tutoring.

Frequency and Flexibility of Sessions:

I think that everyone needs to find a great work-life balance, especially for SAT/ACT prep. Because of this, I feel 2-3 sessions a week is the perfect amount, as students are consistently given sessions throughout the week to make sure they aren't forgetting things that they've learned, while also getting tons of break time and not always having SAT on the mind. Along with this, it is much better to spread out sessions throughout the week and also change them if necessary, such as moving a session to an earlier day in the week to have a practice before a math test or adding an additional SAT session one day to go over a practice exam.