Billy: Paterson tutor

Certified Tutor

I first understood the power and importance of tutoring as a student who, though always acknowledged at intelligent, struggled with courses and homework in high school. With the help of talented and invested tutors I was able to get back onto an educational track that eventually led me to receive my BA in English from the University of Southern California, and my MFA in Poetry from Washington University of St. Louis, where I also taught undergraduate poetry workshops for two years.

As someone who benefited enormously from tutoring, I think it's important to pay that benefit forward, and I spent two years between undergrad and grad school tutoring high school English, writing, and history, as well as test prep for the PSAT, SAT, and ISEE/HSPT.

As a tutor and writing teacher (as well as a student myself) I think the best outcomes are achieved when students are really engaged with the material at hand and have an investment in understanding it. If a student's having difficulty with a concept I like to draw analogies to other things either I or the student are interested in order to demonstrate other approaches, and to show that the skills they're developing are applicable outside the assignment. In teaching poetry at the university level I've often reached beyond my knowledge of literature to my interests in movies, music, photography, theater, and nature to bolster lessons on poetic craft and interpretation. I've found that this approach creates "aha!" moments for students that have a lasting impact on their work in my classes.