First and foremost, I am without a doubt the best math tutor on the market, as my rates, together with the fact that I am independent, not working for a major tutoring company, and in fact have turned down recruitment offers that most other tutors would jump at, should signal. As a matter of fact, with the major tutoring organizations perceiving me as a threat, for a time there was a price war for advertising on Google, until eventually they realized they were just losing money by trying to outbid me. One tutoring company even claimed (without my consent!) that I was a part of their network, just to make their service sound better! I tutor so much that I had to move into a larger apartment in a different neighborhood and purchase an 8'x4' dry erase board for my living room in order to accommodate my students. I attended one of the hardest universities with one of the best mathematics programs in the world, and have audited 1st year PhD level courses in Economics, Statistics, and Computational Neuroscience. Unlike most other tutors, I was a math teacher in a classroom setting for a year, have designed a College Board approved AP Calculus syllabus, have been an education consultant for the Chicago Public Schools, and have separate experience with both teaching and tutoring (there are a some major differences between the two). See the "About Me" section for more information. Also, like most of the best tutors, I will not be available forever, as I will be moving forward with my life. So take advantage of my service for you or your loved ones while it's available! Here are a few more reasons to choose my service: -Save time -Relieve frustration -Improve understanding -Build confidence -Foster independence -Raise grades and scores -Get that degree! -Become empowered! Go with my service and you will have a qualified, highly involved tutor with a vested personal interest in how well you do. I'm young, fresh, bright, and current, and I can transfer a lot of that positive energy to you. I'm at just the right age to be young enough to remember what it's like to be a student, yet I'm experienced enough to know what it's like to be a teacher. I've also seen both sides of the parent-teacher dynamic. I often simultaneously understand what motivates a teacher's decisions, as well as the basis for a parent's perspective, and can help make communication clearer. I also have experience working with troubled teens and younger children. If you are energetic when it comes to math, then we can have a mutual exchange resulting in a symbiotic relationship very conducive to learning. If you're not so enthusiastic but just want to get it over with, our time will still be productive: I will work to find ways to help you relate to mathematics and appreciate not only the applicability of the subject to other fields, but also the appeal of mathematics in its own right. In any case, I understand that math can be difficult, and I strive to have a very comfortable atmosphere with all of my students, so that they don't have to worry about being judged for not getting something immediately. I am extremely patient, and will try many different strategies if one point seems to be a hangup. I've been at both ends of the spectrum, so I know what it's like to be the one who feels like they are at the bottom of the class, and I know what it's like to be at the top. No matter where you are in that spectrum, I will help you move higher. I've learned that many students' struggle is not that they are not meant for math, but rather that their attitude toward math is their primary obstacle. I've encountered students who were convinced that they just couldn't get it, and a few sessions later were excited that it was all starting to make sense. My teaching methods Do you know any math teacher that teaches without some kind of chalkboard or dry-erase board? Probably not! I have a large one in my home, and I take my portable one everywhere I drive. Use of a dry erase board is more effective than paper alone, and viewing is
easier (as one's hand is not in the way like it is for paper). Most other tutors do not have this equipment, and just stick to pencil and paper. This gets crowded, not only in terms of being really close to someone you don't know well, but also in the sense that it's difficult to both write and let the other person see. Plus it takes more time this way (which costs more money). And you have to worry about space and fitting everything on the page, etc. Anyway, if you're paying a tutor, can't they at least have a board?! Even some major tutoring companies don't use a board. Where is all that money going, anyway...? As for the academic part, tutoring with me is highly interactive. I rapidly determine where the student is by discussing progressively more (or less) difficult topics until they converge at the student's level. Once we're there, my method of teaching is part lecture, part dialogue. Lecture is not too different from lectures in a university or other classroom. That in and of itself is valuable, but the real value of tutoring is in the one-on-one interaction. I use the dialogue to get a feel for how precisely the student understands a given topic, and I try to lead my students to arrive at conclusions by themselves as opposed to just telling them, so that they really understand what's going on. (Socratic method) Additionally, I am proactive about contacting the student's teacher (if permission is granted) to get information that might be harder to come by otherwise. I also have a broad perspective on what I teach, and think on many different levels simultaneously: long-term vs short term, math-specific or broader psychological barriers, etc. When explaining things in the short run I try to frame it in a way that will make things easier later on, which not only helps the student, but ultimately drives the costs down in the long run. On the larger psychological background of the student, I'm sensitive to such variables as: Are they sleeping well? Stressed? Having a hard time in life? Etc. Knowing this helps put the sessions in context and helps me help the student. As one specific example of a level at which my tutoring is happening, sometimes a student thinks their question is "Is this right or wrong?" when it's actually, "Is this conventional notation?". They might ask "Can I do this?" . The operative word here is "can". The beginning math student is often unsure about proper notation, thinking there is one and only one correct way to write something (likely a consequence of their teacher only accepting answers in one form, for ease of grading). I might respond with "You can do this OR that; It's up to you.", suggesting that they have a choice, and that math isn't an intangible, distant object that they can't control. Finally, I try to make my students feel as comfortable as possible, working at their pace (but helping them accelerate). My students never have to feel insecure or underconfident when they work with me. Remember, I've been at the top and at the bottom! When you search for a tutor, be sure to find out about their teaching methods. If they can't provide much detail, the quality of their teaching should come into question. And when you ask, make sure it is the actual tutor telling you face-to-face, and not a customer service representative over the phone. "What are my other options, and why go with your service?" Before we discuss some of your other tutoring
options, I'd like you to consider the qualities of a great tutor. I mean this in a very specific sense. It takes a rare combination of expertise in a given subject area, experience with teaching, and certain personality traits and interpersonal skills to be a great tutor. None of them alone can define one. One can be an expert in a given subject area, but not have the ability to know very well what another person understands of what is being taught to them, and therefore a poor teacher. Or one could be a great teacher in a given subject are but not see the context in a broader context like an expert could, and therefore not be able to answer deeper questions about the subject. And so on. Additionally, a lot of tutors only have a vague idea of what it means to tutor. "Work with the student and help them with their subject, in exchange for financial compensation". Concomitant with that vague notion of what it means to tutor and how to go about tutoring is the generic and, to use a crude analogy, "one-size-fits-all" approach taken. The effect of the effort put into tutoring, like most everything else in life, is not determined simply by the amount of time spent doing it, but also by the efficiency with which this time is spent. (Notice the words "effect" and "efficient" have the same latin root.) There must also be a systematic approach taken that maximizes the effect of a given amount of time spent, and that is tailored to the individual. One example of a factor I take into consideration for determining a strategy is how the grades are determined, and how different categories are weighted. Also concomitant with the vague notion of tutor that a lot of "tutors" hold is that their approach can be short-sighted. By this I mean that they have no long-term plan; it's only on a day-by-day basis. They are only concerned with what's going on while they are in the tutor-tutee relationship, and not afterward. There are obvious faults with this philosophy, but let's look at the most obvious: that sort of attitude contributed heavily to the Recession! (Moral Hazard) By the way, on the note of uniqueness, I actually discovered that another tutor had copied and pasted my ad verbatim as if it was his own unique service to offer! Other independent tutors: You might find a good one (like me!) or you might not. Oftentimes a tutor gives impressive credentials, but they may be false, or the tutor may have limited teaching ability. I'm sure we've all had the experience of encountering a brilliant individual who was not that great at teaching. One-on-one tutoring requires first and foremost competence in the subject area, but there is much more to it than that. It involves a deep sense of empathy, and the ability to understand exactly what the student knows and doesn't know, and what will work for that particular student. Additionally, when a person claims they've been tutoring for, say, 12 years, what they really mean is they've been doing it on and off over the course of a 12 year period. They may actually have the same amount or less experience than someone who has been doing it intensively for 1 year. And let's not forget about the person who copied my ad verbatim... Another thing to keep in mind is that other "elite" tutors (and psychiatrists) will sometimes try to foster your dependence on them, attempting to convince you that you NEED them in order for you or your child to succeed, so they can secure your future business. Worst case, they may even conduct sessions in a way so as to help make that come true! I am completely honest and up front that my role is not to be the crutch, but rather, the facilitator. If you want to do as much outside of tutoring as possible due to financial constraints and/or if you want to foster student independence, I respect that, and during our session I can give suggestions to maximize the impact of our tutoring. Tutoring companies frequently work with groups of students, so it's more difficult for their tutors to give students individual attention and get to know them on a personal level. They may also employ individuals with limited credentials and teaching experience, and it will be impossible for the companies to retain tutors as qualified, experienced, and motivated as I am. Additionally, the compensation to employees is questionable compared to the high rates the companies charge, so their tutors will not have as high an incentive to do well as I have. You might be paying $100/hour but only be getting a $20/hour tutor!! Remember the old adage "you get what you pay for"? Well with tutoring companies, you actually get less than what you pay for! I learned from one of my clients that a major tutoring center just gives books to the students, doesn't really monitor their progress, and worst of all, didn't report to their parents that the student was goofing off! "Yes, he's doing just fine; Absolutely no problems", when in fact he wasn't doing any of the work at all. They were more concerned about securing the client than doing what it was that they were supposed to be doing. The slower he improves, the more money they can drain. It may or may not be a surprise to you, but I came to realize that there is a rather expensive high school tutoring company ($175/hr for example) that has stricken a deal with the counseling offices at some elite private schools in chicago, and does not invest in traditional paid advertising like I and other advertisers do, but rather on a referral system with the counseling offices. One of my students, when I asked why they switched to me, said they were being told "you're doing fine" by a tutor who wouldn't even engage them, and would just turn the student loose to do homework and at the end say they had done everything right. The student then found out they were performing very poorly when they got their grades. That is a failure on so many levels: The tutor didn't properly diagnose the student's situation or prepare the student adequately, they cheated the parents out of money, and they shocked the student and harmed the self-confidence of a minority female. The counselors are supposed to be looking out for the student's best interest, not referring students to low-quality tutors! Additionally, many tutoring companies claim that their tutors are "certified", but the tutors are not screened by an independent agency--The certification is issued by the tutoring company! And here's something to definitely consider, I've had an applicant to a major commercial tutoring company hire me for help with his application exam, and he was hired! Also, take a look at Jose Ferreira's article "Big Test Prep's Dirty Little Secret": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jose-ferreira/big-test-preps-dirty-litt_b_611382.html Online tutoring may be convenient, but there are a number of drawbacks. The biggest is the lack of human interaction. Picking up on auditory and gestural cues is an important part of teaching and assessing student understanding. Consequently, it's difficult to explain to the student in any significant way, rather than merely give them the answers. Another is that oftentimes the tutor differs from session to session (or even within a session), so the familiarity that online tutors gain with their students is questionable. While many online tutors may appear to be cheaper than other options, this actually depends to a large extent on the speed with which the student can formulate their questions and type or draw them for the online tutor. If this is not done quickly, the dollar price may actually be the same as other options, but with less effectiveness and more time spent (so the true cost can be higher). Also, a lot of online tutoring is outsourced to other countries, particularly to India, and these tutors are not necessarily familiar with American education. Also, communication may be difficult. No tutoring, stick to the classroom and teacher: It's quite difficult to get attention in a classroom, and the teacher has so many students to deal with that it's hard to reach them outside of class, especially given conflicting schedules. Additionally, interactive learning is more effective than passive learning that all too frequently occurs in classrooms, for a number of reasons. -Being in constant dialogue allows the tutor to know exactly what the student knows and doesn't know, something that is difficult to come by in large classroom settings with little opportunity for dialogue. Think about the Socratic method, and why lawyers and police interrogators ask so many questions. It really helps get the truth out. -Active engagement requires the student's involvement in a way passive learning does not, and thus leaves no option but for the student to grow. For example, studies have shown that foreign languages are learned much more quickly when the student is immersed in the language and has to speak the language, than if the subject is learning solely through vocabulary, books, and classrooms. -Active engagement in tutoring sessions fosters the independence and confidence that will be necessary for exceptional performance elsewhere. Undergraduate Teaching Assistants are often underpaid, overworked, and too busy and stressed to do a good job helping you learn. Their hourly wage (all things considered) can actually be less than minimum wage, since they are often paid a flat fee, calling their incentive to teach you well into question. Additionally, they can be unskilled and novice to teaching. Finally, maybe the reason you're seeking my service out in the first place is because you don't find your teacher sufficient. I know I've certainly come across some not so great teachers. When I was in 3rd grade, I could divide numbers to several decimal places of accuracy faster than my teacher could do it on her calculator. My experiences as a student and as a teacher happened in comparatively close proximity, so I have perspectives on both that few have. Additionally, though I taught one year, I got to know my students' mindsets in much more depth than an average teacher. I was the only teacher that graded every problem of every daily assignment of ALL 60 of my students' homework, and these were no easy problems! For many subjects, calculus or below, if you tell me a topic I can pretty much already tell where your instructor has likely glossed over something, didn't cover it in detail, or that the class struggled with, which may leave holes in your foundation. Also, I've been known to catch instructor typos or textbook mistakes that can be VERY frustrating and time consuming if they go unnoticed. For Ben, in my "Students" section, there was a 'k' instead of an 'n' in his instructor's handouts on the binomial theorem. The formula should have ended with y^k, but instead ended in y^n. This entire homework project would have been impossible for Ben had I not caught that typo. For Jonathan, one problem involving the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus expected students to apply it to a discontinuous function with a vertical asymptote (to be specific, the integral of sec(x)^2 from 0 to pi). Not cool... For Ekaterina, who was studying for the GMAT, the book (from a major tutoring company) had several mistakes in the answer key. How can you study effectively if the answer key has incorrect answers?! |