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No-judgement, enthusiastic math support
Asher B.

5.0 (274 ratings)

940 hours tutoring

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About Asher

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12 years' formal teaching experience across high school & university, and a tutor since grade school
Math is my absolute favorite thing ever and I'm big into trying out different explanations & approaches to find what makes a given concept "click" for you. Anything we realize you aren't solid on is a chance for me to help you grow & better understand this whole subject - you'll never hear anything like "you should have learned this years ago" or "why can't you" from me, it's all about...

12 years' formal teaching experience across high school & university, and a tutor since grade school
Math is my absolute favorite thing ever and I'm big into trying out different explanations & approaches to find what makes a given concept "click" for you. Anything we realize you aren't solid on is a chance for me to help you grow & better understand this whole subject - you'll never hear anything like "you should have learned this years ago" or "why can't you" from me, it's all about providing a supportive environment to get you more comfortable & fluent. You don't have to love math the way I do, but I'm definitely gonna do everything I can to make our sessions and whatever you're studying a more pleasant experience than it's been!

I'm patient, passionate, and confident in my knowledge - that includes having no issue naming when I need to take a minute to think or need to look something up, I'm not gonna mix you up on something by pretending I know what I'm doing. I'm always happy to backtrack if there's something from earlier on you find is holding you back on current material, and will come up with however many different explanations you need until we find something that helps you understand. I have multiple degrees in math - did everything but the big paper at the end of the PhD program which I left because I was more excited to go teach - and over a decade's experience in the classroom. I'm especially excited about Calculus (funnily enough my least-favorite math class when I was a student), having revamped the whole AP Calc curriculum for my school to make it more holistic, accessible, and supportive.

Whether you need support for one niche concept within a single unit or are looking to adjust your experience with math as a whole, I'm here for you. Zero-judgement space, ready to help wherever you need... and whether you know what you need or not. My students (and their parents!) consistently comment on my energy & enthusiasm for the subject... come talk math with me!

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Education

University of Chicago
Mathematics
Northeastern University
Masters

Policies

  • Hourly Rate: $90
  • Rate details: Open to need-based rate reductions, especially for Calculus; please reach out to me with what's doable for your family!
  • Lesson cancellation: 4 hours notice required

  • No background check

  • Your first lesson is backed by our Good Fit Guarantee

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Approved Subjects

Algebra 2

Algebra 2

I was so frustrated and intrigued by my first taste of Algebra: a student-teacher did a presentation to my 6th grade class and, excited by the idea of a letter representing a number but not realizing that 2x meant "two times x" rather than "twenty someodd", I got all the answers wrong (and may have actually had a short argument with her after the class about believing the answer to not exist)! Once that notation was cleared up, I was voracious for this field; my graduate work was in Abstract Algebra (well, ok, I took a fair amount of courses in Topology, too, but that's not what I researched) and I've delighted to teach many sections of Algebra II since becoming a high school teacher. One of my favorite concepts to teach is Completing the Square... in no small part because it's so often a point of confusion for so many, so it's really satisfying to link the name to the process and help it all "click" and be a lot more memorable than it was for me when I was in high school. Looking forward to helping you feel a bit more excited about this field, too!
AMC (Competition math)

AMC (Competition math)

In my decade as math faculty at an internationally regarded boarding school, among other responsibilities I had the pleasure of serving as the Math Club/Team advisor. Our group participated in the AMC series of exams, NEML, Purple Comet, the M3 Challenge, and HMMT. I don't have a set curriculum for this material, but work well with students who are independently enthusiastic about contest math and would benefit from additional support in their studies. I'm ready with impromptu lessons on the various common contest math topics (as well as those more generally covered by a high school curriculum, what with being a long-time classroom teacher), whether prompted by a student who knows they specifically want an introduction to that concept, one who doesn't know how to approach a specific question in the course of their independent practice, or even a kid who does know the general category of techniques to employ for a given problem but is looking to level up their instincts for greater speed & certainty - getting at that "more of an art than a science" aspect of advanced combinatorial reasoning. You bring the problems, I'll meet your enthusiasm to get better at solving them :)
Calculus

Calculus

I strongly believe that math in general but calculus especially is taught far too detachedly - there are core principles that link together the whole of AP calculus into really just a bunch of applications of a few ideas, and given the opportunity of heading into a full year of Pandemic School summer of 2020, I got to rearrange our Accelerated Calculus course (AB+BC in one year) to be a lot more holistic. I've always loved mathematics, but Calculus was my least-favorite course when I was in school... I'm much more excited about it now that I've had the chance to make these deeper connections that no one pointed out to me back when, and I'm especially excited to help things "click" for you, too.
Discrete Math

Discrete Math

A lot of youth contest math is based on Discrete Mathematics, so as a young mathlete I got a lot of experience with the field. I got to work with legendary Discrete Mathematician Laszlo Babai while at University of Chicago for undergrad, not just taking a class but also working two summers in their REU with him. While the nominal focus of my graduate work was Cluster Algebras, there was a ton of combinatorial analysis (aka... you guessed it, Discrete Math!) in the particular niche we were working to carve out at that time. And I've since come back to my first contact with it: having taught high school since finishing my own schooling, I've been the Math Team coach and helped countless aspiring mathletes - including some who think they hate Discrete - hone their skills and their relationship to the field.
Finite Math

Finite Math

A lot of youth contest math is based on Combinatorics (the fancy word for Finite/Discrete Math), so as a young mathlete I got a lot of experience with the field. I got to work with legendary Combinatoricist Laszlo Babai while at University of Chicago for undergrad, not just taking a class but also working two summers in their REU with him. While the nominal focus of my graduate work was Cluster Algebras, there was a ton of combinatorial analysis (aka... you guessed it, Finite Math!) in the particular niche we were working to carve out at that time. And I've since come back to my first contact with it: having taught high school since finishing my own schooling, I've been the Math Team coach and helped countless aspiring mathletes - including some who think they hate Finite Math - hone their skills and their relationship to the field.
High School Placement Test

High School Placement Test

I've taught every level of high school math from remedial through our most-accelerated honors, starting at the Algebra II level (sorry 9th graders, I haven't covered Geometry since I was your age!) and going through & past BC Calculus into capstone studies in topics like Point-Set Topology, Combinatorics, and Group Theory for our students who'd run out of our more-traditional offerings. I don't judge about whether you're super experienced & confident and looking to give your many skills that final polish, or extremely new to the basics and hoping for an accessible introduction that can also help shore up a shaky foundation: my focus is not on where you've been, but where I can help you to grow from there.
Needlework

Needlework

I've known how to knit for as long as I can remember; along with general orientation and problem-solving, I can help you learn to "read" your work and understand the structure of a pattern using my mathematics background/instinct. Tatting I picked up in 2010; Crochet is most recent, as of 2019, though I'd played with the basics before that point. Though knitting is definitely where I have the most experience and technical skill, I have made my own designs in all these crafts.
Precalculus

Precalculus

My first experience teaching Precalc goes all the way back to when I was still a high school student myself, giving my little sister tips to help her pass her trig test... I will never forget her holding up her curly hair to model a sinusoidal wave. I've since gotten a Bachelor's and Master's in Math and spent much of the past decade teaching high school, with at least one section of Precalc almost every year of that time. The term "Precalculus" is a pretty vague descriptor - there's a lot of different topics that different schools choose to include/not within that year of math - but what hasn't been a core part of my particular school's curriculum I've kept fresh by teaching our Math Club/Team. It being such a broad, disconnected set of topics makes it an especially fun course for me to tutor... looking forward to seeing what questions you have!
Real Analysis

Real Analysis

Don't you wish your Real Analysis professor had the patience & communication skills of that one standout teacher you had in high school? I bring the best of both worlds: I've worked with students from grades 7 up through early grad school (most recent classroom experience being a boarding high school), and still have frequent practice with my work in the topological concepts like open covers as well as the more-fiddly delta-epsilon work that may be giving you trouble in your Real Analysis course. Excited to explain the definitions your prof is presenting from a variety of different angles to help you grow your intuition for these abstract concepts, and support you as you develop your instincts for how to get from point A to point B in proof-based math.
Trigonometry

Trigonometry

My first experience teaching trig goes all the way back to when I was still a high school student myself, giving my little sister tips to help her pass this unit of her Precalculus class... I will never forget her holding up her curly hair to model a sinusoidal wave. I've since gotten a Bachelor's and Master's in Math and spent much of the past decade teaching high school, with at least one section of Precalc almost every year of that time. I've got some tips for how to boil down some of the complicated formulas to a core set of principles... if you've got SOHCAHTOA and the Pythagorean Theorem down, I can help you use algebra to avoid having to memorize so much (and if you're not comfortable with those, I can help you solidify your relationship with them, too!)
ACT Math
GRE
Linear Algebra
Probability
SAT Math

Examples of Expertise

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Ratings and Reviews

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5.0 (274 ratings)
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Reviews

Amazing Teacher!

Asher is an amazing teacher. She spent a lot of time explaining the foundational concepts that I needed to successfully complete my homework, and she even gave me a lot of analogies to help me remember these concepts. She’s very patient and will do everything that she can to make sure you understand the topics you are struggling with.

Jackie, 39 lessons with Asher

Knowledgeable and Patient Tutor

Asher is enthusiastic and supportive and does a great job explaining complex concepts in a way my daughter can understand. And when my daughter finds a topic challenging, Asher is patient in reviewing the material in a way that increases her confidence in math. Very grateful that she's working with her.

Ava, 44 lessons with Asher

very understanding and patient

Super great teacher! Very patient and helpful, helped me understand every single detail and explained everything to me patiently, thank you!

Thaimarys, 3 lessons with Asher

Great knowledge, teaching ability and attitude!

Asher tutors my daughter in AP Calculus BC, and we have nothing but praise for her. According to my daughter, Asher has a great ability to communicate challenging ideas in an accessible way. Asher quickly adapted herself to my daughter's level and understanding, ensuring that each session was engaging and effective from the very start. With her positive and encouraging attitude and her accepting nature, Asher has made herself not just an effective tutor but a very welcome part of my daughter's weekly schedule. Thank you, Asher!

Alex, 21 lessons with Asher

Expert math tutor

Asher is incredibly knowledgeable and a great teacher. She cultivates a welcoming and stimulating environment for one to learn in. She picks great examples and you can tell she puts a lot of time and effort into preparing for your lesson. We even got into the meta of mathematical thinking and thinking in general.

Sean, 9 lessons with Asher

Amazing tutor!

Asher is patient, knowledgeable (we did calculus) tutor, and she helps build kids up! Couldn't ask for more in a tutor for my kids, as they navigate their way in High School. Thank you, Asher!

Anna, 53 lessons with Asher

Explained In A Way I Could Understand

Asher was very friendly and patient and explained discrete math in a way that I was able to understand better than instruction from class.

Debbie, 5 lessons with Asher

excellent

One of the best Finite Math tutor that I have worked with. She is Excellent in explaining, navigating me with problem solving, making me understand the concepts.

A, 1 lesson with Asher