• Undergrad:

  NOVA

• Tutors Out Of:

  Alexandria, VA

• Travel Radius:

  10 miles

• Tutoring Certifications:

  anatomy - Bible studies - English - ESL/ESOL - psychology - SAT reading - SAT writing - video production - world history

• Tutor's Fee Per Hour:

  $36.00 * with a 10% discount after purchasing $360

So if you've clicked on my title because you saw one or two (five or six) spelling and/or grammatical errors, then we are a perfect match! Conversely, if the title you read is exactly how you might have written it, then we are a perfect match as well. So often, people who tutor others attempt to give this spit-and-polished, I-never-make-a-mistake image and it's just not me. I have never been a traditional student, I was good at 4 subject and absolutely atrocious in 2 or 3 others (you'll notice I'm not a math tutor, heehee)

I went to 3 high schools, and three colleges. I'm almost 30 and I'm still in school! But those life experiences, those street smarts have yielded me far more valuable lessons than any 4 years straight in a class room could have taught me. And it's only now that I'm turning 30 that I really know what I want to do with my life: Listen, analyze, and help solve other people's problems.

It is in that vein that I would like to help you, dear reader. It's plainly obvious that you are here with a problem, one of either comprehension of the subject for which you're studying, or application. For my part, I teach by way of analogy and by life-imitating-art of which you are studying. Nothing would give me greater fun in life than getting you to the point of clarity for that which is giving you troubles.

Another teaching technique that I use is the same technique that has been used by Rabbinical and Tallmudic scholars for years. When I teach you a particular string of points on a subject, many times I will stop and say something to the effect of "Now, teach it to me." This technique was developed during the time of the oral law in Judaism where nothing was written down and law was memorized orally and passed down from master to student.

So let us learn together the lessons you have set forth!

Email this tutor in Alexandria, VA!

• anatomy

  I consider myself extremely lucky to have grown up in a Cath Lab. What is that? Well, in very simplified terms it's a laboratory where a gigantic camera takes pictures of the heart, its vessels, chambers, and valves. From a very young age, at my father's side I was taught how to read what I saw on the screen...how to recognize the pathophysiology, i.e. where things in the patient have gone terribly wrong. Who would know, that decades after those humble beginnings I would be in school as pre-med with designs to go onto a medical career similar to my father? This is where I sit now. I believe to study and know the enormous amount of information one must grasp in the study of anatomy/physiology (and conversely, pathophysiology) there are some very basic study strategies that must be employed, but that do not come so easily to many. The first is the use of acronyms, because so many of the individual aspects of a system go together, for example: To remember the 12 small bones in the hand: "Never Lower Tilly's Pants, Mother Might Come Home." That helps in recalling navicular, lunate, triquetrum, pisiform, greater Multongular, lesser Multongular, capitate and hamate. To remember all 12 of the cranial nerves: "An Old Olympus Over Towering Tops, A Finn And German Viewed Some Hops." Thus the nerves are: olfactory, optic, oculomotor, trochlear, trigeminal, abducens, facial, acoustic, glassopharyngeal, vagus, spinal accessory and hypoglossal. Many anatomy/physiology students forget that the things that they are studying are located in a most convenient place...right where they are! I found in my study if I got stuck, I'd simply stop and say to myself "Well, what has xyz done for the last 20-odd years so far without mistake?" And the answer would come to me. Anatomy/Physiology is by far one of the hardest subjects to knock out in a semester, just because of the sheer volume of material that needs memorizing, but with my strategies and real-world, pragmatic technique, the student will know that they are not in their struggle alone and will have the confidence in passing that class and perhaps one day join me as a physician.

• Bible studies

  I am lucky in that I am Jewish, but when I was a kid I attended a great deal many Catholic and Christian influenced schools, thus one could say that I have a well rounded biblical education, one that I think would be valuable to pass on to those wishing to learn. For the years of 7th grade till 11th grade in high school I attended four different schools of the Christian faith and all of them had religion as one of their requirements. Freshman year, Mr. Pachorko's class (phonetic spelling) had us reading and studying the entire American version of the bible from one end to the other in great detail. At current, I am a student of Rabbi Edlestien who is a student of the great Rabbi Titlebaum of the Yeshiva (religious school) in Silver Spring, MD. I also attend online classes put on by the Chassidic Institute of Alexandria and Arlington, where I have the ability to learn from amazing Chassidic and Kabbalistic teachers from around the world. Most recently, I have been studying the complete history of the Jewish people, from Abraham and Sarah all the way to the present day, recorded from London, England. But I'm no Rabbi, I would never presume to lift myself to their level of knowledge, but I'm good at what I do. Unlike some, I celebrate my faith and teach all who wish to learn about it. I do not brow-beat, nor guilt anyone into seeing any word of the bible, but rather I teach from a historical perspective using the students imagination and own two shoes to take them back into the given biblical situation. I hope in your wisdom in approving my application for this subject, you will give others the chance to learn from me as well.

• ESL/ESOL

  I have been a native speaker of the English language my entire life. It is my first and primary language and while in school I even went further back in discovering the roots of our language by studying both German and Latin. I know enough spanish and french to get by, often not being able to speak it that well, but understanding enough to get the general idea of what is being said and respond in kind. The key to learning english as well as teaching is time and patience. One does not learn a language as complex in it's structure, tone, and writing arts in one sitting (unless you're Kim Peeks, I supposed). I have a masterful grasp of diction, and an ear for teaching tone...for example, there is a miles of difference between telling someone to "Shut up." with a light airy voice with the accent on the last syllable moving upward in tone, and when one would say "Shut up." with a low tenored, breathy tone that conveys a deep and sinister connotation. Quite often, I find that many people who are not native speakers who have a marginal to moderate grasp of the English language are too concentrated on finding the right word and err in the tone causing confusion. For my part, I've never scored lower than an "A" in any college-level English class. When I am teaching people how to speak, one will often find me with loads of pictures (thank G-d for the internet, right?) and the style for which I teach is conversational. Sometimes, I will have the person either teach what they have learned back to me, or I will have them teach some of their native tongue back, as it's facinating for me to learn. I feel strongly that learning english is not a question of assimilation, rather it is an enhancement for already long standing cultures that thrive in the American setting. I look forward to beginning to teach these fine people the language I know and love.

• video production

  I attended a one-year film certification program and was trained as a cinematography-emphasis director. I have consulted on over 28 films both narratives and documentaries. I have held almost every job there is to be had on the set of a film. I'm pre-production heavy in that the planning of a film takes more time than the actual shooting schedule. I have a very visual method to the way in which I shoot...lighting is absolutely paramount and can be the tell between a film that is high quality and one which is amatuer in the manner in which it was shot. I believe in the director being present during all applicable post production phases, conversely I do not believe that the writer or producing staff should be on set during shooting days. I believe the key to a successful shooting as a director is to employ a top notch 1st Assistant Director (1AD) and that when it comes to meals on set, the lowliest members of the staff on set get to eat first. I believe no project is beyond my attention, or beyond the realm of pulling off, it is simply the matter of doing the labor intensive work before hand, and acheiving the funding to pull such a project off. It is to teach these fundamentals of video production that I humbly request your certification to teach to others.