I believe that learning should be engaging and relevant. One of my purposes as a tutor is to demonstrate to students the wealth of information that still awaits them and to share my excitement about these subjects in the hope that they will join me in that emotion. I hope to show them that both math and science are applicable and beneficial to their everyday lives, regardless of where their interests may eventually lead them.

I also want to give my students methods for surviving and thriving in today's increasingly fast- paced and technologically advanced world. To do this, they need the critical thinking and analytical skills to discriminate and interpret the information with which they are bombarded everyday from a variety of sources. I want to show them that science is not a static body of knowledge to be memorized, but a growing and changing way of understanding our selves and our world. I try approach concepts by modeling how scientists collect data about a subject and then use it to develop theories that can explain their observations. I always emphasize that scientists continue to further develop and modify these theories as new data is discovered. I also want my students to understand that I do not have all of the answers for them and they will need to find some of them on their own. They need to be willing and capable enough to do this. When working with math, I attempt to connect concepts to "real world" uses and ideas. I hope to show my students that math is not a torture technique, but a tool that can be used to describe and test ideas as well as to overcome obstacles to success.

Lastly, I believe that math and science are not done in isolation from other topics. Reading, writing and communication are important parts of instruction as well. Whether it is reading about a concept for information, learning or pleasure or it is writing and speaking about the ideas that a student has developed in working out a problem, all of these activities are integral parts of math and science work.

However, my ultimate goal as a tutor is to have a positive influence on some part of each of my students' lives that helps them toward becoming capable and independent adults. The primary objective of teaching young people is to have them eventually be able to make competent and confident decisions for themselves and for others who may depend upon them as adults.