All of
Diane’s current tutoring subjects are listed at the left. You
can read more about
Diane’s qualifications in specific subjects below.
Algebra 1
Algebra! It is one of those subjects that I do for fun. It is a joy and I love passing on that joy to students.
Many students are frightened by the word alone. But the truth is since the first time they were taught that 1 + 1 = 2, they have been solving for unknowns and therefore doing algebra.
I have had great success tutoring algebra. I have tutored all ages/levels of algebra from pre-algebra to college algebra. I am looking forward to helping students succeed.
Algebra 2
I have always enjoyed teaching algebra. Algebra 2 extends the skill and includes many things that students often find alien to their lives like logarithms, imaginary numbers and trigonometry. I have been dubbed the queen of finding the answer to "when will I ever use this stuff?"
I have had the opportunity to introduce this subject to students as well as help them with their homework from other instructors.
College Counseling
I spent many years as the managing director of a very large learning center. During that time I had the opportunity to not only tutor students, but also counsel them on career and college choices.
Elementary (K-6th)
I have been tutoring all age students for over 30 years. My original certification out of college is for K-12. Additionally, in the last 10 years I have been trained by the Huntington and Sylvan Learning Centers for teaching early reading and math skills. I have tutored all subjects at the elementary level including English, reading, math, science, social studies, grammar etc.
Elementary Math
I have had great success tutoring math at the elementary level. I firmly believe that understanding the concepts are more important than pure memorization and I like to make math more of a game than a school subject.
My greatest accomplishment was taking a 7th grade student who was failing math and not only getting him through the class with a good grade, but he went to high school in honors math classes and just graduated from Stevens with a degree in mechanical engineering.
I look forward to helping every student.
General Music
My bachelor's degree is a Bachelor of Music Education from the State University of New York, College at Fredonia. I taught in public schools for a few years after graduation in 1978 and have been teaching piano, guitar and French horn for over 35 years.
Geometry
I have been tutoring geometry for over 20 years. Geometry is one of the subjects that I am the most passionate about. It is also one of the most useful math subjects for adult life.
The first time I tutored was to help my home room students get ready for the NY State Regents exam. After spending a few mornings with them, they invited their friends and I ended up with 25 students. I helped each of them get a good grade on the Regents exam, quite a few 100s and none less than 85.
I look forward to helping as many as I can.
Linear Algebra
After many years of tutoring algebra, I have become very successful at linear algebra as well. I have experience with linear graphing and special function graphing. I have also been trained to use a graphing calculator. My experience also includes graphing trigonometric functions.
Music History
My bachelor's degree is a Bachelor of Music Education from the State University of New York, College at Fredonia. I taught in public schools for a few years after graduation in 1978 and have been teaching piano, guitar and French horn for over 35 years.
Piano
My bachelor's degree is a Bachelor of Music Education from the State University of New York, College at Fredonia. I taught in public schools for a few years after graduation in 1978 and have been teaching piano, guitar and French horn for over 35 years.
Praxis
I was lucky enough to first encounter a Praxis exam long after I had been teaching for quite a while. I managed to write what I thought was one of the first texts on taking the Praxis and spent quite a few years helping co-workers prepare to take the exam.
Prealgebra
From the day a child starts to count they are already doing pre-algebra. One of my strengths is to make things simple and stop the fear of that word.
I have been tutoring math at all levels for many years. Not all students will become engineers, but all students do need to have a working knowledge of numbers and calculations in order to survive in this technological world that we live in. I teach for "reasonableness" and love to take complicated things and make them easy.
Public Speaking
I was one of those people who was very fearful of public speaking. After being trained by AT&T and spending my 18 year career giving presentations and teaching large groups of executives, I realized that I had a gift for it.
One of the many secrets is that being frightened is a good thing. It heightens you senses and makes for an exciting effort. Also, being well prepared and being willing to say "I don't know," is the most important thing.
I have had experience teaching students to make presentations for their classes and also in helping adults prepare for career advancements through presentation skills.
Reading
I believe that reading is the bedrock of all other education. Reading comprehension includes things like identifying the main idea and supporting details. It includes drawing conclusions and making inferences. It involves learning new vocabulary and analyzing character development.
I am well versed in how to approach each of these skills. I take the time to read along with my students when they are assigned books for school, so that I can talk to them about their work. I also read along with students on the books they choose for themselves.
Regents
Having grown up in New York State, I have personally taken more than a dozen Regents exams. I have helped students in preparing for the following exams: English; biology; math at all levels; history and earth science.
During my first year of teaching, I had a few students in my homeroom who were preparing for their geometry regents and I was able to help them. Each day, more and more students showed up to join them for the tutoring sessions. By the time May came, I had 30 students joining me after school to partake of the help. Each of them received a grade of 85 or higher with 14 of them receiving a perfect score.
SAT Math
I have been successfully helping students reach their personal potential on the math section of the SAT for many years. In addition to reviewing the math skills necessary, I spend much time in test taking skills and making the problems "simple". Time is spent assessing the strengths of the student and using them to apply the "skipping" strategy.
SAT Reading
SAT reading includes sentence fill-ins and critical reading. There are many skills that contribute to achieving a high score. Knowing vocabulary and being able to use it well is probably the biggest key.
I teach many test taking strategies to help the student understand the critical reading, even when the subject is boring to the student. I pride myself in helping students use their own skill level to determine how to approach the SAT.
SAT Writing
Many people assume that the SAT writing section is merely an essay. That couldn't be further from the truth.
The writing section includes sentence correction, sentence error identification and essay corrections. Many students have developed bad habits in regard to grammar and the lessons are exceptionally important to developing some new habits.
Social Studies
Social studies has always been one of my favorite subjects. My very first major in college was history and political science. One of my projects for my master's degree was to rewrite a social studies curriculum for a middle school to include all of the humanities in a collaborative method. For example, students would learn about the renaissance by studying the history, art, music and literature of that period at the same time. I believe that covering the period as it happened rather than pigeonholing them individually is what social studies is all about.
Study Skills
I have been teaching study skills and test taking strategies at Huntington Learning Centers and Sylvan Learning Centers for over 10 years. The skills taught include, but are not limited to, note taking, time management, organization, outlining, listening, researching, writing a research paper including bibliography and footnotes, and managing and tracking grades.
Writing
Writing! The word alone frightens people. Part of the issue is in recognizing how a student learns to write in the first place. After all, by the time they learn to write their first sentence, they have been understanding the language (listening and speaking) for many, many years. To expect them to write at the level they speak is asking for disappointment.
No one is suggesting that everyone will be a Pulitzer Prize winner. There are methods that allow even the least creative student to write well enough to get good grades in school.