How I teach

Everyone can understand math

We all use mathematical reasoning every day without noticing: working out when to leave to be on time, whether there's enough gas to get there, how much cash to bring to the store. So why do so many people decide they aren't "math people"?

Usually it isn't a lack of ability. A bad experience, a missed concept, a class that moved too fast: any of these can start a loop of "I can't do math, so I don't do math, so I can't do math." Math anxiety follows. These students aren't dumb or hopeless. The material simply hasn't reached them in a way they could take hold of.

Math is built like a building

Each concept sits on top of the ones before it. If the foundation has holes, the next floor wobbles. A classroom teacher has to cover a syllabus on a schedule, so students who fall behind can end up stacking new material on a weak base. That's nobody's fault, and it's fixable.

In tutoring I can slow down, go back to the spot that's actually missing, and rebuild from there. Often that takes only a few sessions.

The concept drives the computation

I don't teach tricks to get answers. When you know why a method works, the computation follows. And you can handle a problem you've never seen before, because you aren't matching it to a memorized pattern.

I ask leading questions and let you draw the conclusions yourself. I work problems out loud on paper while you watch, so you see the thinking as well as the answer.

I'm a catalyst, not a magic wand

Math can't be force-fed. It has to be digested over time, and the rate is different for everyone. Sometimes you'll bang your head against a wall for hours or days over one idea, and then it breaks open and it's yours for good.

So I'll repeat two things often: there's more to it than meets the eye, and there's no substitute for practice. I can open the door of understanding. You have to walk through it.

What a good session looks like

A lot gets accomplished when both of us come prepared.

What I bring

• I've mastered the material I'm teaching and I know it well enough to see where your understanding breaks.
• I listen. I'm easy-going, patient and encouraging, but serious about the math.
• I treat mistakes as information about how you're thinking, not as failures.
• I never move on before you're ready.
• You're paying me to teach you now, not for what I did in a class long ago.

What I ask of you

• Try the work first. Know what you understand and where you're stuck. Then we spend the hour on what you need most.
• Bring your textbook and your class notes. The notes show what your teacher emphasizes and how your class presents the material; the book supplies problems to work. The hour isn't wasted without them, because we can still have a real conversation about what you're studying right now. But it goes far better with them, a hundred times better, and I'd rather tell you that up front.
• Bring questions. Student-driven questions are always better than a lecture.
• Practice between sessions. Understanding grows with practice. That's the part I can't do for you.