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James

Certified Tutor

I have always been fascinated with science since I was a kid. I always performed really well in the science fairs in elementary school and middle school. When I went to high school I took an interest in physics. I eventually went to college to get a degree in physics. This was when I published my first paper for the European Journal of Physics. I was also fascinated with programming and the way the internet works today. I began to learn the programming language python. Then I learned ruby which was easier. I then set out to learning jQuery, Javascript, Java and HTML&CSS. Now I am fascinated with the connections between quantum physics and the arrival of the world wide web we have today. I am practicing the art of launching a website and plan on learning machine learning someday after I learn C C++ and C#! quantum physics and programming are challenges but that is only because they are adventures. No adventure was ever easy but they are always worth it!

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James’ Qualifications
Education & Certification

Undergraduate Degree: Houston Baptist University - Bachelors, Physics

Hobbies

Programming, Reading, Music, indie games

Tutoring Subjects
Algebra
Algebra 2
College Physics
CSS
Geometry
High School Physics
HTML
Math
Physics
Pre-Algebra
Science
Trigonometry
What is your teaching philosophy?

It is the communicators responsibility for the subject in question to be understood, not the student's. If the student does not understand the material, the communicator is at fault.

What might you do in a typical first session with a student?

I work with the student to set a goal and a strategy to meet the goal that works for the student in question.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I teach the student in question how to learn.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I would give them a moral, ethical basis for their work.

If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?

I would ask the student to ask me what to do to clarify the matter.

How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?

I try to calm them down and tell them that reading comprehension is not a race and that it is not the end of the world if they do not understand the passage for the first time.

What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?

Altering my communication style to suit their needs. Most of the time the problem is simply communication.

How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?

A student will usually be more engaged with a subject once they become very good at it.

What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?

In order to understand the material often, one needs to know what the material is in the first place.

How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?

I let them know that I was once a student as well and felt the same way they did. Their professors were students once, and they probably made the same mistakes as well.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

I evaluate a student's needs by finding out how the student is different from other people. It is not a bad thing to be different.

How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?

I adapt my tutoring to the student's needs by adapting my communication to the student's needs. Most of the time the problems deal more with communication than the actual subject.

What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?

I use the same materials that everyone else uses. This is not rocket science. It is tutoring.