Thomas
Certified Tutor
Undergraduate Degree: College of the Holy Cross - Bachelors, Economics
SAT Verbal: 700
Cycling, running, cooking, camping, hiking, live music (among others!)
10th Grade
10th Grade Math
10th Grade Reading
10th Grade Writing
11th Grade
11th Grade Math
11th Grade Reading
11th Grade Writing
12th Grade
12th Grade Math
12th Grade Reading
12th Grade Writing
7th Grade
7th Grade Math
7th Grade Reading
7th Grade Science
7th Grade Writing
8th Grade
8th Grade Math
8th Grade Reading
8th Grade Science
8th Grade Writing
9th Grade
9th Grade Math
9th Grade Reading
9th Grade Writing
Adult Literacy
AP French
AP French Language and Culture
AP US Government
AP US History
Business
CLEP French
College Economics
College English
French 1
High School
High School Business
High School Chemistry
High School Economics
High School English
High School Writing
Homework Support
Latin 1
Middle School Reading
Middle School Science
Middle School Writing
Other
Programming Languages
SAT Subject Test in French
SAT Subject Test in French with Listening
SAT Subject Test in Mathematics Level 1
SAT Subject Test in Mathematics Level 2
SAT Subject Test in United States History
SAT Subject Tests Prep
SQL
Study Skills
Study Skills and Organization
Summer
Technology and Coding
US History
What is your teaching philosophy?
Learning is a process--Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was taking down the SAT, GRE, next week's math test, or an essay. By learning from mistakes and missteps, students gain an appreciation for and a can-do attitude towards more difficult academic pursuits.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
The first session will be my biggest opportunity to learn about the student. I'll learn what responsibilities, restrictions, commitments, and goals the student has in order to best approach each student's unique problems in and out of the classroom. Learning is comprehensive and doesn't stop on the last page of a textbook.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
Rote memorization went the way of Woodstock and pension plans--real learning isn't stuffing information into a student's head to be regurgitated later. My students will achieve independence in learning by developing useful study techniques that work for them, not having tricks thrust upon them that may work for others.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
While there is an argument to be made for learning to love the process of learning, being goal-oriented is the best way to motivate students. Tangible benchmarks are not merely appropriate, they are most often necessary for substantial learning to take place.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Road blocks are natural in learning--everyone gets them and they are, in fact, a good thing--it means that the student is being challenged and is learning something new. The issue needs to get broken down into its component parts in order to see where the precise problem lies. Once the root of the issue is identified, it's a case of "learn by doing" with special attention paid to that root problem. Once mollified, the student can continue with learning new concepts.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
As a student myself, often bogged down with tedious readings in dated language, I myself needed to create strategies to increase reading comprehension while not taking an hour to read and digest ten pages of 18th century economic literature. I'll use those same tips and strategies to help students achieve their optimal reading comprehension.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
The number one question try to answer when working with a new student is "What do we know we don't know?" This allows a student to come to grips with their deficiencies, however slight, and gives both the student and me a starting point from which we can launch.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Often, students want something to which they can relate. When a difficult topic or subject is put into terms the student knows, the student is more inclined to work with it. If the student likes basketball, I'll put probability in terms of Shaq making a free throw; if the student likes baseball, it can be statistics comparing Babe Ruth to Cliff Lee.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
The student will either see a more abstract problem or reading with difficult language, using numbers and words (s)he has not yet seen. The student will then explain how to solve the problem or will summarize the passage concisely and in more basic language.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
The best way to be confident in being right is to be right. Students will not be inappropriately challenged once holding a tentative grasp of a particular topic. The difficulty level of problems will slowly ramp until the student is confident in even the trickiest and most deceptive issues.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
A comprehensive assessment is necessary to see where a student struggles and excels. Based on this assessment, I will look at what the individual needs of the student are. The most glaring needs will be addressed first and will be re-evaluated later.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
Different students have different needs. A three-sport athlete with dreams of Olympic glory will need something different than a skateboarder with dreams of being a nuclear engineer. By getting to know each student, his/her learning pace, and what else the student has going on in life, I can work with the student more effectively to elicit the best work from him/her.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
Most often I will use practice problems or passages, the answer key for my own use, and plenty of loose-leaf paper. I encourage students to use a pen while practicing so that the mistakes cannot be erased or obscured--mistakes are vital, and so too, then, are pens.