Hi I'm Mike! I graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a minor in Chemistry from MIT. Over the past six years, my main philosophy is to teach students how to take apart complex problems into their simpler parts. By cutting the "information meal" into more bite sized pieces, I feel the concepts become more digestible and retainable. I have mentored both high school and college students and my firmest belief is that if you want to master math, you have to practice...
Hi I'm Mike! I graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a minor in Chemistry from MIT. Over the past six years, my main philosophy is to teach students how to take apart complex problems into their simpler parts. By cutting the "information meal" into more bite sized pieces, I feel the concepts become more digestible and retainable. I have mentored both high school and college students and my firmest belief is that if you want to master math, you have to practice math! To that end, my students and I work plenty of problems, establish a two-way communication (lots of back and forth questions), and try to sneak in a few laughs in the process!
During these last six years, I have mentored students one-on-one (sometimes two or three-on-one!) in a variety of math courses at both the high school and college levels, including SAT Math, Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry, Trigonometry, Statistics, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus. I have also tutored Physics and Chemistry (both high school and college), although less frequently. I have tutored as a volunteer in a high school math lab for two years before becoming a professional tutor, so I have experience mentoring in different settings and with a diverse student base.
While my core approach is helping students break apart complex topics to their simpler parts, my methods center around a key motive...asking "why?". While arriving at the correct answer is certainly a goal, I place heavy emphasis on understanding the mathematical logic behind the process, i.e. I want my students to understand why a formula or series of steps works. As we work through problems, I will frequently ask my student "so why would we do that here?" My belief is that when a student understands why something works, that understanding can be applied to solve a large variety of problems, including ones they haven't yet seen!
Please feel free to reach out anytime, I love meeting new students!
