Tim: St. Charles tutor

Certified Tutor

I graduated from Georgia Tech in 2005 with a B.S. in Public Policy. After graduation, for about 8 years I worked for a nationwide tutoring company. I began as a local in person tutor and worked my way up to being a curriculum developer and regional teacher trainer. But I chose to leave the field to become a professional Religious Educator. I have been serving at different progressive churches for the past ten years, but have always loved tutoring.

I love tutoring. I love helping folks figure out how to do math by themselves - my ultimate goal is to not be needed anymore. I want kids to see the logic behind the math instead of seeing a problem and think about what formula to plug in - if students can see the logic behind the problem, they will not be scared when the encounter it again on a test. So instead of teaching the specific problem on the screen, I try to focus on the type of problem, how to recognize what to do from what the problem says, and how to work your way through the problem if you forget the formula.

I want to help build up confidence - half the trouble comes from students believing they are not great a math. You build up confidence through repetition and step by step processes. I start off explaining a concept using an actual problem from their homework assignment, and as we work through it together, I am analyzing what sort of foundational level skills we need to review more in depth together. I always try to focus on teaching in a step-by-step process, because it helps demystify math. And then we do a couple of practice problems to make sure the method makes sense.

I do think it is important to have both regular sessions and flexible sessions if you wait until the night before the test to prepare, you just aren't going to end up doing your best the next day. I think it is important to have both weekly, regular sessions so any sort of confusion does not snowball into an avalanche, and I think it is important to have flexible sessions a day or two before a major test to do recap and test preparation together.

I have a few times during the week I absolutely cannot do due to my day job as a religious educator. But I've got a pretty flexible schedule for the times I'm not in scheduled meetings. I look forward to working with you and your student!