STEM Tutoring that Increases Confidence and Content Understanding

Oliver Y.

I am a current high school chemistry teacher who has been teaching for the past four years. I have done STEM private tutoring during those years as well. I have a BA in Chemistry from Williams College and MA in Education from Stanford University. My tutoring methodology always starts with what the students already know and then I give them the tools they need to get to what they need know. I believe in tutoring where 30% of the time I am talking and 70% of the time students is talking. I encourage my students to explain their thinking, summarize the steps in their work, and extend their learning creatively to new situations.

I believe that it's important as a tutor to visualize student thinking. For that purpose, I ask students to bring a notebook and either schoolwork assignments or a topic to learn about. I always start with example problems right away. My students draw or explain my drawings on a virtual whiteboard. The whiteboard works as a to look at problems together. I post screenshots of practice problems and we analyze the question and work through the problem together. I follow a gradual release model in which I hold the student's hand for the first problem, then gradually release them so eventually they are doing and explaining the steps for the entire problem.

I have tutored over 20 students before in all math levels from Algebra 1 to AP Calculus and from Physical Science to AP Chemistry. I can tutor 1-1 or in small groups of 2-3 students. I want to benefit the students as much as possible and welcome any parent or student feedback at the end of sessions.