Long-time Private Tutor for Math and more

Shawn F.

Hi there! Thank you for considering me to work with you or your student. I've been a private math tutor for grades 7-12 and adults in 1:1 settings, both in-person and online, for almost 20 years, and I spent 7 years working in the school system as a floating substitute teacher where I tutored whole classes as needed. I have a Bachelors in Psychology and Masters of Science in Speech Communication where I emphasized social dynamics within gaming. My first academic love has always been math. I see it as a universal language that unifies people with its rules, concepts, and exceptions. Because I initially went to college to be a math teacher, I ended up with a minor in math.

As a math tutor, many of my students have seen a jump of anywhere from half a letter grade to a full letter grade because I take the multiple teaching styles that influenced me and combine the best aspects into an approach that not only accounts for the concept itself but also the underlying vocabulary and fluency required to master a concept. In any given session we will always begin with an example problem and we'll go over not only what the numbers tell us but also what the problem itself tells us. This is especially important for word problems where we must translate words into numbers. I will always encourage a student to work out as much as they can on their own so that I can see the work process, which in turn allows me to best clarify the concept. Our goal is to not only foster more understanding of the concept but to increase confidence. My math areas of expertise are Algebra, Algebra II, Geometry, Pre-algebra, and Precal. I made straight As in these classes and they make up a high majority of my tutoring experience.