Math Tutor Specializing in Calculus and Algebra

Lauren S.

I am a current student at San Diego Miramar College working on completing the classes required to transfer to a UC school. My major is in mathematics, and I plan to become a high school math teacher and/or math professor. I have a 4.0 GPA and have taken a course in principles of tutoring.

Prior to Wyzant, I have a year of experience informally tutoring other students during class, in such subjects as Calculus, Linear Algebra, and Physics 1 (Mechanics). My professors have asked me to work with particular groups of students in order to help them with difficult problems. Students have approached me outside of class asking for my help on problems. I also help students on a Mathematics Discord server. The students I have helped have mostly been young adults between 18 and 25 years old. I have experienced failure in my academic journey before, and therefore I understand the headspace of students who might come to tutoring for help.

The methods I use to tutor are oriented around gradually creating more opportunities for the tutee to take control of the problem-solving process. Rather than listing all the steps of a problem myself like an instructor, I might ask the tutee targeted questions to assess their knowledge and help guide their thinking. I encourage thinking out loud as a way for the tutee to more easily catch their own mistakes. I share strategies of studying, remembering formulas, note-taking, and visualization so that the tutee may become more self-sufficient in their learning.