I'm an award-winning journalist and book author who has earned the highest ratings and the most positive reviews as a tutor. The parent of a 17-year-old senior high school student wrote: "James has been a fantastic sounding board for our son. He has helped him brainstorm ideas and pushed him to do his very best in a manner that is warm and encouraging. He's been a perfect fit for our son, and I can't recommend him enough." The parent of a 7-year-old elementary school student wrote: "Greatly...
I'm an award-winning journalist and book author who has earned the highest ratings and the most positive reviews as a tutor. The parent of a 17-year-old senior high school student wrote: "James has been a fantastic sounding board for our son. He has helped him brainstorm ideas and pushed him to do his very best in a manner that is warm and encouraging. He's been a perfect fit for our son, and I can't recommend him enough." The parent of a 7-year-old elementary school student wrote: "Greatly appreciate all your fine work!"
I have tutored dozens of students ranging in age from 3 to 74. I have tutored them in writing, reading, communications, math, history, government, political science, computer skills, Russian language and preparation for a broad range of standardized tests including the PSAT, the SAT and the HSPT for Catholic schools. My greatest strength is writing; a number of my high school students have told me that I’ve improved their writing ability through their increased practical and concrete understanding of what makes up great, sophisticated writing. Several students have told me that their grades in English and other courses requiring good writing have improved by a whole grade – B to A, for instance – or more thanks to my teaching. I am skilled at transmitting my enthusiasm about writing to students. I teach them what I call “elevated writing.” I show them through my own examples but especially by editing their material and working with them from idea conception to completion. There is a broad range of tools necessary to elevate writing from merely satisfactory to powerful, starting with close attention to small details such as punctuation and on through proper grammar to more advanced notions such as varied sentence length and structure. I teach them how different writing assignments require different voices, from formal and official to informal and even at times slang. Most important, I teach them that the first task, before they even start writing, is to determine who their audience is; that de
