Have you wondered why your child's report card does not reflect his/her potential? Or why he/she excels in certain subjects and not others? I specialize on helping people derive at the correct answer in any subject. Below is how I can help:
With 11 years of experience tutoring and teaching, I can spot the tutee's challenges and overcome them. I started tutoring in 9th grade in a school-sponsored peer tutoring program, 10 hours/week. I tutored pretty much everything, from pre-algebra to pre-calculus, from ESL to AP English, and all the required social sciences (and AP US History).
During my college years at UC Berkeley, I tutored 15+hours/week. My marketing thing was "Get A for the test, or your money back." While I tutored a variety of subjects, I specialized on social sciences and business essay writing, that is, to put your insights on paper concisely and interestingly - to get a WOW and an A+. The more I tutor, the more I realize that people are very intelligent - they just have 3 fundamental challenges that prevent them from excelling:
+Lack of Self-esteem: Most of them don't believe they can excel in the subject they need tutoring on. This is a negative feed-back loop because the more they believe they are bad at a subject, the less time they spend on it and the more pain they feel while actually studying it. For instance, Bill, one of my Calculus tutee. Bill believes that he's an excellent writer but somehow he is "dumb" at math. So I asked him: "How do you know you are dumb at math?" "Because I had a D on my last midterm" Bill Replied. I went: "Did you know Einstein failed at Math as a child?" Bill was taken completely by surprise. I continued: "Math is about practice, it has nothing to do with your intelligence. It's like sports (Bill is a football player), the more you practice with your problem set, the more natural it is to you." Then we just methodologically "Blitz" through the problem set, one by one. Bill became very confident and aced the final. I can help get rid of those deadly mental blocks in any subject.
+No time management/prioritizing skill: People do badly in school because they have wrong priority while studying. I had an observation at Cal: The B and C students spend hours going through the material and frequently miss class. The A students show up in class, take notes, ask questions, and spend much less time studying at home. Consequently, they spend less time study, understand the materials better, and get A's. In addition to the content I tutor, I also add in advice about active listening, asking questions, how to take good notes, and minimize study hours and maximize learning.
+No definite long term goals: A+ students who take 4 AP Classes a semester, in 5 extracurricular activities in addition to sport team and student government aren't super human. They just have high motivation and definite goals that they want to achieve. I noticed this in high school, at Cal, and at my work-I am an executive for a high-tech start up in the Bay Area. I noticed that the top learners and earners ask this question: "Why do I do this? If it's done, how would I feel and how would my life be if I consistently achieve these goals?" Relate this to tutoring, I love playing this vision building exercise with my tutee: "If you have an A in class, would it affect your chance of getting into great college?" (YES) "If you get into a great college, would you make more money and have better connections than someone who doesn't?" (YES)"Wouldn't having a prestigious degree make you look good and allow more options for your job?" (YES) "Would it then make your life more comfortable and allow you more chance of doing what you love, instead of worrying about money and paying the bill everyday?" (YES) "You hate being broke and looked down by people do you?" (YES) "I understand. I feel the same. Let's make a goal of completing these problem sets by Wednesday and get an A on the next midterm. Can we commit on that? (YES). I'm not just a tutor, I help with setting definite goals and finding the reason why those goals are important as well.
If you are looking for someone to help with not only the subject matter at hand, but to inspire a love of learning, I'm your man. Here's a quick summary of my credentials (for additional peace of mind):
-11 years of tutoring experience.
-Bachelor of Arts from UC Berkeley (Business and Political Science).
-Perfect score on GMAT Writing.
-Founder and Lecturer at Berkeley City College's Study Skill Workshop.
-Former President of UC Berkeley's Toastmasters International (I coached people doing the scariest thing in the world-Public Speaking)
-I have excellent people skill, I can relate with and motivate my tutees to aspire to be a life long learner.
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