Kenneth's Tutoring Blog

My current day job is a sheet metal tech. Every day, I slice slabs of metal into thinner slabs and bend them to specific instructions. The average person might call it necessary blue-collar drudgery. I see opportunity to re-explain different aspects of knowledge.

For instance, the average slab of metal comes in a 10-foot by 4-foot sheet. Commonly, we're tasked to slice along the length to either 4 inches, 6 inches, or 9 inches of length. The excess metal is scrapped.

Now, /ideally/, if I'm given an order for 6-inch pieces the 4 feet (48 inches) should be sliced into 8 equal pieces. Unfortunately,...

So I was working with a college student in her 2nd year of chemistry. We were attempting to find the molality (moles of solute per kilograms of solvent) of a solution when given the molarity (moles of solute per liter of solvent) and the density (grams per milliliter).

Here's the general process of how the problem is supposed to be done. You look at the molarity of the solution, and from that we can figure out the mass of the solute in that solution. And from there, you can calculate the mass of the solvent with basic subtraction, and BOOM! there's your molality.

And it turns out there's...

Earlier this week, I began sessions with a young man who needed to shore up his math and reading skills for the military placement exam (ASVAB). I decided I'd change my normal methods a little to see if new methods have a better impact.

This time, I've decided to use two websites with built-in social media functions. KhanAcademy has a battery of K-12 math/geometry/calculus tests. FreeRice has English vocabulary and grammar quizzes. I can sign my students up with a free account and place them on my team. They can work on problems on their own time, and I can see their progress (or lack...

I woke up this morning to a wonderful email. One of my recent students wrote a very positive review for me. Here it is, uncensored:

"Kenneth knows his math and can explain it in a simple manner. He is easy to understand. He is polite and personable. My son ran through 2 tutors before Kenneth, so I was crossing my fingers that Kenneth could get the job done without drama. My son responded in a very positive manner."

A bit of background: Her son wants to test out of high school at 16. I was asked to review the GED math section with him for this session. This kid is capable of passing the...

Don't forget to change your account information if you're moving. Here are the two places you need to go:

1) My Account > Change Information. Here, you change your mailing address. This is very necessary to do before tax season hits!

2) My Account > My Profile > ZIP Code. You must also change your profile to reflect where you are now tutoring.

If you do not change *both* of these, it will reflect your browsing experience. Searching for students will default to your mailing address, not the ZIP code in your profile. If your profile still lists you in your old town, it'll be hard to...