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Effective English Tutor for the SAT, ACT, PSAT, and APs
Matthew H.

5.0 (43 ratings)

86 hours tutoring

Your first lesson is backed by our Good Fit Guarantee
Hourly Rate: $55
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About Matthew

Bio

Welcome! Thank you for researching my qualifications. I hope that my teaching abilities meet your learning needs, and I look forward to working with you.

ABOUT ME:
My extensive tutoring experience and educational background make me a highly qualified tutor in my subject specializations. I'm currently a senior studying Communication at California State University, Long Beach and the president of the CSULB Speech and Debate team. Since 2010, I have tutored students from elementary school,...

Welcome! Thank you for researching my qualifications. I hope that my teaching abilities meet your learning needs, and I look forward to working with you.

ABOUT ME:
My extensive tutoring experience and educational background make me a highly qualified tutor in my subject specializations. I'm currently a senior studying Communication at California State University, Long Beach and the president of the CSULB Speech and Debate team. Since 2010, I have tutored students from elementary school, middle school, high school, and college in subjects ranging from English to math, speech and debate, the SAT / ACT / PSAT, and music (I played the clarinet for 12 years).

I am committed to my personal academic achievement and that of my students. In my own academic career, I maintained an average 3.8 GPA throughout high school and college. My students have typically raised their grades anywhere from 1-3 letter grades. One of my geometry students, Jimmy, raised his grade from an F to a B after several months of tutoring.

MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY:
I have a few core beliefs about every student and the tutoring process in general that inform my tutoring approach.
1. Every student wants to be successful, especially when learning about topics that have directly applicable real-world value to his or her life.
2. Every student is capable of growth when clear goals are matched with smart work and perseverance.
3. The priorities in any tutoring relationship are identifying and achieving concrete academic goals.
4. The most successful tutors and students are the ones who are best able to leverage the power of advanced technology in order to be more effective and efficient.
5. Students deserve a tutor who genuinely cares about not just their academic performance, but also their emotional and mental well-being.

MY METHODS:
I have several tutoring methods that I believe represent bleeding-edge innovations in educational technology.
1. I use texting-based reminder systems to remind students about homework assignments, quizzes, and more.
2. I

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Education

California State University, Long Beach
Communication

Additional Languages

Spanish

Policies

  • Hourly Rate: $55
  • Rate details: $5 off per person for group sessions.
  • Lesson cancellation: 1 hours notice required

  • Background check passed on 8/22/2014

  • Your first lesson is backed by our Good Fit Guarantee

Schedule

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Approved Subjects

ACT English

ACT English

I received a perfect score of 36 on the English section when I took the test myself in 2008. For the past 4 years, I have taught ACT English both in my private tutoring practice and for several tutoring academies in the Southern California region. One of my current students, Don, recently took the June ACT and received a score of 35 on his English section.
ACT Reading

ACT Reading

I received a near-perfect 34 on the ACT Reading test on the October 2008 administration of the test. I have taught ACT Reading to many students over the past three years at tutoring academies in Artesia, CA and Buena Park, CA. My current students are now achieving scores in the 30s after only a few months with me.
Algebra 1

Algebra 1

Due to a scheduling error, I took Algebra I twice despite receiving a near-perfect score on the placement test. The fortunate result was an extra-firm foundation in the fundamentals. Over the years, I have tutored a number of students who have dramatically increased their test scores and raised their grades.
Algebra 2

Algebra 2

Short Version: I have a strong background of consistent, high achievement in both my own math classes and in teaching students to achieve their own goals for their math classes, specifically in college algebra. Longer Version: I took Algebra 2 in high school and received the Blue and Gold award from Gahr High School, which is awarded to the highest achieving student in each subject in the entire school. My algebra II teacher remains a close friend to this day. I took college algebra again in college as part of my GE requirements and received a grade of A, achieving at or near the top of the class once again. I have tutored multiple students during my tutoring career in college algebra who have gone on to successfully meet their math requirements.
Chess

Chess

My father taught me to play chess at about the time I learned to speak, and I have been playing ever since. As a child, I participated in chess classes through the city and in tournaments. This year, I was ranked in the top 1% of nearly 1 million players worldwide through the popular chess app Chess Time when my rating peaked around 1550. Usually, however, my ranking hovers around 1400, so I can help beginning to intermediate students learn the basics and the beginnings of chess strategy and theory.
Clarinet

Clarinet

I played clarinet for Ross Middle School, Gahr High School, Cerritos College, and California State University Long Beach for a total of 12 years. I typically played 1st or 2nd clarinet parts. I was section leader in 7th, 8th, and 11th grade and drum major in 8th and 12th grade. I have some experience tutoring clarinet students.
English

English

I have a very strong background in all aspects of English. I have an advanced understanding of grammar and writing techniques, an extensive vocabulary, and experience with reading all different kinds of texts. I have tutored English professionally for several years in some of the most difficult high school subjects, including Junior and Senior AP/Honors, the SAT, and the ACT.
ESL/ESOL

ESL/ESOL

I have taught ESL to speakers fluent in Spanish, Korean, French, and Chinese both privately and through a tutoring agency since 2011. I have extensive experience teaching vocabulary and grammar, as well as a solid foundation in teaching everyday words and phrases.
Geometry

Geometry

In high school, I earned an A+ in Geometry with a score of nearly 100%, not including extra credit. I was the runner-up for our school's Blue and Gold Award, a medallion awarded to the best student in the entire school in that subject. I returned to the subject years later to tutor a family friend in geometry. He did so well and his family was so pleased with my help that they referred me to a classmate of his, and thus my tutoring career was born. Over the years, I have continued to tutor geometry and many other subjects.
Proofreading

Proofreading

I am a professional proofreader for SAT and ACT essays. I excel in identifying both common and difficult-to-spot grammar errors, as well as syntax errors, diction errors, and fluidity concerns. I am equally adept at providing stylistic suggestions across a variety of styles and tones, from poetry to academic prose.
Public Speaking

Public Speaking

I am the current president of the Speech and Debate team at California State University Long Beach and former president of the same at Cerritos College. I am a nationally competitive public speaker on the tournament circuit in Debate, Impromptu speaking, and Extemporaneous speaking. I have achieved several dozen trophies over the last 2 years in my events, including multiple finalist, 3rd place, 2nd place, and 1st place trophies.
SAT Reading

SAT Reading

I received a perfect score of 800 when I took the SAT myself in October 2008. I have spent the last 4 years teaching SAT Critical Reading both in my private practice and for various private tutoring academies in the Southern California region. I currently teach classes to as many as 10 students at a time, many of whom started out in the 500 range but are now scoring in the upper-600 to 700 range.
SAT Writing

SAT Writing

I am currently employed as an SAT Writing instructor at a tutoring academy in Buena Park, CA. I consistently score perfect 12's on my essays as graded by my students, and I consistently score perfect 49's on the multiple choice sections. I have an extensive writing and grammar background, as well as an Associate's degree in English. Many of my SAT Writing students have increased their scores by dozens or hundreds of points, depending on the length and frequency of tutoring.
Spanish

Spanish

I took the AP Spanish test in high school in 2009 and received the maximum score of 5. In order to prepare for the test, I took Spanish I, II Honors, III Honors, and IV AP and received a grade of A in all of them. I furthered my Spanish education at Cerritos College with two more semesters (Spanish 201 and 202, the highest level offered at Cerritos College). At the end of Spanish 202, I received the Academic Excellence Award at Cerritos College for being the most outstanding Spanish student in the entire college. I continue to practice my Spanish on a daily basis by listening to Spanish radio in my car and speaking it in my personal life.
Writing

Writing

Short Version: As a student, I write a lot. In my personal life, I am in the process of writing several books. As a tutor, I have taught writing for the last several years, both to individual students and to classrooms for summer sessions. Longer Version: I consider myself a writer. As a child, I loved to read so much that I knew someday I, too, would publish a book. This love for both reading and writing led me to a number of remarkable successes in my English and general humanities courses over the years. For example, I earned perfect scores on the English sections of the SAT, ACT, both AP English Language and Literature, and bypassed multiple college English courses on the basis of my aptitude and assessment tests. For the last few years, I have taught English, vocabulary, grammar, and writing to students from 4th grade through 12th grade. I have a wide variety of resource materials for teaching, and it's one of my favorite subjects to teach.
Grammar
Reading
Trigonometry
Vocabulary

Examples of Expertise

Matthew has provided examples of their subject expertise by answering 1 question submitted by students on Wyzant’s Ask an Expert.

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Ratings and Reviews

Rating

5.0 (43 ratings)
5 star
(41)
4 star
(2)
3 star
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2 star
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1 star
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Reviews

My niece's grade has risen from an F to a C!

Matthew keeps us well informed of my niece's progress including in depth explanations of topics covered in each session. She's confident and her test anxiety has reduced significantly feeling more prepared. He's clear in the areas that need practice and improvement. He comes prepared to maximize the full hour session. My niece is a social butterfly that needed a special tutor like Matthew to both challenge and support her. I will continue to book sessions in the summer to keep the information she's learned fresh. I highly recommend him to others. Thanks Matthew!

Laura, 7 lessons with Matthew

Great and professional tutor!

Matthew is terrific. He arrives each day exactly on time, which is important when you have two working parents. Our 11-year-old son was immediately attracted to his kind, warm, and patient personality. Substantively, Matthew was able to quickly determine our son’s needs and focus on the right things as evidenced by our son’s substantial improvement. We have had two other tutors before Matthew for our son's clarinet but since Matthew has been started working with my son, he shows significant improvement. We could not be more pleased. We highly recommend him.

Alireza, 2 lessons with Matthew

Fantastic

My daughter absolutely loved Matthew. Per Shanaya, "he's marvelous, he makes things so clear. We finally found the one." This was just after one session!

Patricia , 14 lessons with Matthew

Great tutor

Matthew taught my kid chess and he did it in a way that sparked my son's interest in the subject. My son thoroughly enjoyed the lesson and asked when the next one would be.

Ramsey, 1 lesson with Matthew

Matt was very knowledgeable and patient and helpful

Binomial, trinomials and little factoring, I have a better understanding of algebra and I would definitely recommend him to others.

James, 1 lesson with Matthew

Professional and engaging!

Matthew is very professional and precise with his skill for tutoring. He's working well with my daughter and she's engaging which is great, the more questions she asks the better she'll feel in working with him on a weekly basis. Thank you so much and I look forward to working with Matthew on a weekly basis leading up to my daughter's success in taking her SAT next school year.

Rene, 2 lessons with Matthew
Hourly Rate: $55
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