Dan: Lower East Side tutor

Certified Tutor

My goal is to help every student reach their full potential and discover ways that they can be successful academically so that they develop a love for learning they stays with them for life. I have a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry from Texas A&M University and a Master's in Science in organic chemistry from Texas Tech University. I was a graduate student for a total of six years at those two universities and taught undergraduate organic and general chemistry labs during those years. I have taught high school chemistry as well as tutoring students one-on-one from grades 5th through 12th in middle school math, algebra I & II, geometry, pre-calculus, trigonometry, and Spanish I & II. I was also a fourth-grade bilingual teacher in all subjects, teaching language arts, reading, and writing in Spanish. While I tutor a broad range of subjects, I particularly enjoy tutoring in math and science, as I love trouble shooting and problem solving. During the day, I do computer tech support for one of the agencies of the state of Texas. In my free time, I enjoy jumping on the trampoline with my son, jogging, working out with weights, watching movies with my kids, programming VBA macros for Microsoft Office, and teaching my daughter guitar, and roller skating. I am passionate about helping students because of my personal journey as a student. Coming from a family that instilled in me a love for learning, I sailed all the way through high school as a straight A student with little challenge academically. But when I got to the university, I experienced a major blow to my self-esteem, as for the first time in my life I began performing poorly academically. Fortunately, with the help of others I was able pull myself out of an academic "tail-spin" and graduate with a B.A. in chemistry and land a job at one of the research labs at Texas A&M in the entomology (bugs) department. Later I went on to complete a master's in chemistry. This helped has me as a teacher and tutor at the collegiate, high school, middle school, and as well as at the primary grade levels to understand the struggles students face when it just doesn't make sense. I realize that many students have different learning styles, so I believe that it is important to create an individualized study plan for each student that best fits their method of learning and allows us to make the most of the tutoring experience. I make it my goal to get a student to discover a method of learning that works best for him or her so that the student begins to experience a string of successes that will propel them towards academic achievement.