How I Work
Students
Tutoring with me is focused on you
If you are are bored, we'll find what interests you.
If you've gotten left behind, we'll find out where-- and bring you up to speed.
If you have lost motivation, well find what drives you-- and use it to get you going again.
If you are lost, we'll find you-- and get you back on track.
If you are miserable, we'll make it bearable
What I do hope to help you with is filling in whatever gaps in knowledge or understanding you have, while at the same time keeping you up to speed with your current material. My eventual goal for you is a more fundamental understanding of the material and a more enjoyable (and rewarding) experience in whatever class you are currently most hating. Gaining this kind of understanding is totally possible, despite what you may believe right now; and, it will help you (more than anything else) to achieve your academic and professional goals, even if they aren't clear to you right now. Learning how to engage with new frameworks and building confidence in your own academic process are not subject specific undertakings: so I do mean all of your goals-- no matter the particular area of focus.
Though I am deeply invested in the actual material we will be covering, I don't think it needs a lot of bells and whistles to be compelling, interesting, and do-able. This means, we won't spend time. I don't believe that to succeed in calculus, for example, you need to be "gifted" in math or do 40 hours of homework every week. It's more about attention and focus-- actually absorbing the material and engaging with the problems. Working hard is great, but working smart is much more rewarding (and faster).
I also understand that you can have a great tutoring session-- and then go home and blank out on the first question. This is why I have set up text-support so I can help jumpstart you on a tough assignment or give you guidance on a difficult topic that you don't want to wait until our next session to get help with. This way, you can deal with confusion as it happens, instead of letting your question get stale or putting off work until we can address it in session. So take a look around (check out the services page); and, if you have any questions or you see something that looks like it's going to work for you-- contact me, and lets get started.
Parents
Are WE in the right place?
The answer is yes, if your student is any of the following:
high achieving with big aspirations and a heavy, challenging course load.
bright and inventive but has lost interest, is disengaged or even appears not to care about school.
not performing at the level they or you desire.
strong in some areas but with specific academic challenges in one or more areas.
doesn't fit neatly into the mold, and just hopes to make it to graduation.
The answer is yes, if you . . .
have tried tutoring (for your student) before, it hasn't met your needs and you are still looking for something that will.
are a veteran parent, have had success using a tutoring service to help support your student academically, and know the benefit of working with an experienced tutor.
are a newcomer, this is the first time you are seeking professional academic support for your student.
are desperate, you feel like you've tried everything else and aren't sure what to do next.
are committed to supporting your student to excel at their full potential.
I've been tutoring for more than half my life. The vast majority of my professional experience has been over the past 50 years - in the Latvia - consistently teaching upwards of 50 students a week for most of that time. I am driven to develop mastery in all of my undertakings, and tutoring is no exception. I've learned a great deal about tutoring from both listening to my students and observing firsthand, the strengths that a traditional tutoring structure provides. Over the past number of years, I have developed a specific tutoring style-- focused on both "skill embodiment" (the long run) and "skill building" (short term); Specifically, in addition to working on short term goals (specific concept mastery and test preparation), I work with students to develop real intellectual engagement and agility to support their long-term success.
While addressing student questions and challenges, I work to spark curiosity. From curiosity comes engagement, from engagement comes discovery. Discovery builds a base of confidence and competence-- a base from which one can, and will, successfully tackle new concepts and challenges. To that end, I engage students in a guided learning experience in a way that helps build internal authority and accountability. Building the habits of self reliance and internal trust, allows a student to be more successful in every future endeavor. I believe that anyone can bring excellence to any endeavor, given the confidence of truly knowing how to learn and excel in any framework. True, most people are unlikely to be graphing hyperbolas outside of their Algebra II class, but the ability to learn new material and to excel in the context of any given boundaries is universally applicable.
My experience with the conventional tutoring center gave me ample time to understand what works well (and what can work even better) in the traditional tutoring structures offered by many businesses. A weekly in-person session is a great structure, but often a student will want to re-address certain topics briefly or work through a new sticking point before the next scheduled session. This understanding gave rise to the mobile-based service option that I developed to help students address specific problems as they arise. Taking advantage of these opportunities helps students to keep working through material in a grounded way throughout the week-- as opposed to getting stuck on, or guessing about, a concept that they aren't quite sure of. Continuing to practice something that you are not sure is correct is a very insidious habit and can lead to long term poor test performance, and lowered engagement in academic success. Allowing students to message me a question mid study session, can prevent them from going down that path. I've worked hard to create offers that are founded on my experience of what works best for students (in the long, and short, term) and are convenient and accessible for both parents and students.
If you are interested in learning more, I invite you to look around and check out the services.
If you have questions for me, or are ready to get started, please click here.
Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to look around. I genuinely look forward to hearing from you, meeting your student, and getting started.