Peggy H.

Retired engineer - math/science, lang arts, elem through early college

Retired engineer - math/science, lang arts, elem through early college

Microsoft Publisher

While I do not have official training in Publisher, I have spent many years using Publisher to put together flyers, newsletters, brochures and invitations for my own business, for the Math Olympiad for WA state (which I ran for 3 years), and for two 501(c)3 organizations that I was heavily involved with for 10 years. i am quite familiar with the standard features and with figuring out how to do something that I don't yet know how to do - I have taught myself how to do many things in Publisher as the need arises.

Microsoft Outlook

I have no formal training in using Outlook but I have been using it for well over 10 years, teaching myself how to use the new versions as they come out and exploring new features to figure out what they did and how they worked. I have taught my secretaries and my professional colleagues how to do many things in Outlook when they came to me asking how to do something, and continue to perform that function for a variety of people today.

Microsoft Publisher

While I do not have official training in Publisher, I have spent many years using Publisher to put together flyers, newsletters, brochures and invitations for my own business, for the Math Olympiad for WA state (which I ran for 3 years), and for two 501(c)3 organizations that I was heavily involved with for 10 years. i am quite familiar with the standard features and with figuring out how to do something that I don't yet know how to do - I have taught myself how to do many things in Publisher as the need arises.

Microsoft Windows

I am the go-to person in my family for questions on how to do something in Windows. I have used it for over 10 years, upgrading with new versions as they came out, and I am very familiar with the operating system and the various things one can do with it.

Microsoft Publisher

While I do not have official training in Publisher, I have spent many years using Publisher to put together flyers, newsletters, brochures and invitations for my own business, for the Math Olympiad for WA state (which I ran for 3 years), and for two 501(c)3 organizations that I was heavily involved with for 10 years. i am quite familiar with the standard features and with figuring out how to do something that I don't yet know how to do - I have taught myself how to do many things in Publisher as the need arises.

Elementary (K-6th)

I am certain that I can handle anything covered in K-6 grades, given that I have degrees in both engineering and psycholinguistics, I have home schooled a child that learned to read at age 3 and figured out multiplication on her own at age 4, have tutored or taught many math levels, taught classes with LEGOs on simple machines, and worked with all three kids of my own all the way through high school.

Phonics

Phonics is a method of teaching beginners to read and pronounce words by learning the phonetic value of letters, letter groups, and especially syllables. I have a degree in linguistics and have helped several children learn to read before they started school.

Algebra 1

I was an engineer out at Westinghouse and Battelle for 20+ years, with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in materials science and engineering. I have tutored or taught (homeschooled) in many levels of math, Latin, chemistry, and a few other subjects.

Algebra 2

I've tutored middle school and high school kids in algebra, geometry, and pre-calc, which includes algebra/geometry/trigonometry. I'm comfortable working with whatever textbook they are using in school or for homeschooling. I was an engineer professionally rather than a teacher, so I can't tell you what curricula I have used, since I haven't done that. I haven't tutored a bazillion kids but I have worked with my own three all the way from elementary through high school, I have helped their friends as well as numerous kids of my own friends, and I have substitute taught algebra on short notice for several weeks at Oasis School. The kids all aced that chapter test so I knew I had done a reasonably good job with that. I used a lot of geometry in my job, doing things like developing new miniature test specimen geometries when I had to get test specimens made out of broken radioactive duct sections. I can help give kids perspective on why geometry (or algebra, or trig) might be useful in the real world. One thing that always helps kids is translating math-lish to English, i.e., helping them approach whatever problem they are having with math jargon by re-expressing it in language they do understand (i.e., English). I help students deal with problem solving after they understand the concepts by helping them see how to state what they DO know, what they DON'T know, and how to get from one to the other. And I recognize that sometimes the best way to understand things that are presented as mathematical concepts is to see how the new information is actually used to solve problems, so sometimes its very useful to just go through a bunch of problems with a student and talk about why and how you use something new. So I am used to looking at what the student's issues are and figuring out how to best address them. I do work in a very Socratic way, i.e., I don't just talk but I ask a lot of questions that get the student to engage with the material so I can tell what they understand and what they don't. I don't believe that rote memorization is sufficient - they need to understand how to think about what they are doing so they can choose the best approach to solving a given problem. Some examples: One student wanted to take the Compass test at CBC so she could get into a particular math class, but she had not taken trig at that point. I taught her enough in a few hours one afternoon that she aced the trig part of the test and got into the class she wanted to get into. Another student wanted to bring up his SAT II test score in math since he wanted to apply to a high level engineering college. He had been home schooled working his way through an online precalc program which, while it was good enough, wasn't particularly rigorous, and it didn't have any teacher interaction, which is essential in order to probe what a student really understands (rather than has just memorized by rote). We worked together on average twice a month for 60 or 90 minutes each time, and while I suggested problems for him to work through in the book, he really never took the time to do them after the first couple of months (not surprising, since he was carrying a full academic load at the time as well as tutoring with me). Nonetheless, he raised his score by about 100 points just by having worked with me on concepts, how to approach problems, how to understand what was being asked for, etc. What he lacked was speed in doing problems because he had chosen not to work on that on his own.

Chemistry

I've tutored a number of students in chemistry, from those taking it in high school or CBC, all the way down to young kids who love chemistry. I'm good at clarifying what is in the textbook, helping students understand how to apply what is in the book to problem sets, and creating experiments (for kids) to illustrate concepts.

Elementary (K-6th)

I am certain that I can handle anything covered in K-6 grades, given that I have degrees in both engineering and psycholinguistics, I have home schooled a child that learned to read at age 3 and figured out multiplication on her own at age 4, have tutored or taught many math levels, taught classes with LEGOs on simple machines, and worked with all three kids of my own all the way through high school.

Algebra 1

I was an engineer out at Westinghouse and Battelle for 20+ years, with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in materials science and engineering. I have tutored or taught (homeschooled) in many levels of math, Latin, chemistry, and a few other subjects.

Algebra 2

I've tutored middle school and high school kids in algebra, geometry, and pre-calc, which includes algebra/geometry/trigonometry. I'm comfortable working with whatever textbook they are using in school or for homeschooling. I was an engineer professionally rather than a teacher, so I can't tell you what curricula I have used, since I haven't done that. I haven't tutored a bazillion kids but I have worked with my own three all the way from elementary through high school, I have helped their friends as well as numerous kids of my own friends, and I have substitute taught algebra on short notice for several weeks at Oasis School. The kids all aced that chapter test so I knew I had done a reasonably good job with that. I used a lot of geometry in my job, doing things like developing new miniature test specimen geometries when I had to get test specimens made out of broken radioactive duct sections. I can help give kids perspective on why geometry (or algebra, or trig) might be useful in the real world. One thing that always helps kids is translating math-lish to English, i.e., helping them approach whatever problem they are having with math jargon by re-expressing it in language they do understand (i.e., English). I help students deal with problem solving after they understand the concepts by helping them see how to state what they DO know, what they DON'T know, and how to get from one to the other. And I recognize that sometimes the best way to understand things that are presented as mathematical concepts is to see how the new information is actually used to solve problems, so sometimes its very useful to just go through a bunch of problems with a student and talk about why and how you use something new. So I am used to looking at what the student's issues are and figuring out how to best address them. I do work in a very Socratic way, i.e., I don't just talk but I ask a lot of questions that get the student to engage with the material so I can tell what they understand and what they don't. I don't believe that rote memorization is sufficient - they need to understand how to think about what they are doing so they can choose the best approach to solving a given problem. Some examples: One student wanted to take the Compass test at CBC so she could get into a particular math class, but she had not taken trig at that point. I taught her enough in a few hours one afternoon that she aced the trig part of the test and got into the class she wanted to get into. Another student wanted to bring up his SAT II test score in math since he wanted to apply to a high level engineering college. He had been home schooled working his way through an online precalc program which, while it was good enough, wasn't particularly rigorous, and it didn't have any teacher interaction, which is essential in order to probe what a student really understands (rather than has just memorized by rote). We worked together on average twice a month for 60 or 90 minutes each time, and while I suggested problems for him to work through in the book, he really never took the time to do them after the first couple of months (not surprising, since he was carrying a full academic load at the time as well as tutoring with me). Nonetheless, he raised his score by about 100 points just by having worked with me on concepts, how to approach problems, how to understand what was being asked for, etc. What he lacked was speed in doing problems because he had chosen not to work on that on his own.

Algebra 1

I was an engineer out at Westinghouse and Battelle for 20+ years, with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in materials science and engineering. I have tutored or taught (homeschooled) in many levels of math, Latin, chemistry, and a few other subjects.

Algebra 2

I've tutored middle school and high school kids in algebra, geometry, and pre-calc, which includes algebra/geometry/trigonometry. I'm comfortable working with whatever textbook they are using in school or for homeschooling. I was an engineer professionally rather than a teacher, so I can't tell you what curricula I have used, since I haven't done that. I haven't tutored a bazillion kids but I have worked with my own three all the way from elementary through high school, I have helped their friends as well as numerous kids of my own friends, and I have substitute taught algebra on short notice for several weeks at Oasis School. The kids all aced that chapter test so I knew I had done a reasonably good job with that. I used a lot of geometry in my job, doing things like developing new miniature test specimen geometries when I had to get test specimens made out of broken radioactive duct sections. I can help give kids perspective on why geometry (or algebra, or trig) might be useful in the real world. One thing that always helps kids is translating math-lish to English, i.e., helping them approach whatever problem they are having with math jargon by re-expressing it in language they do understand (i.e., English). I help students deal with problem solving after they understand the concepts by helping them see how to state what they DO know, what they DON'T know, and how to get from one to the other. And I recognize that sometimes the best way to understand things that are presented as mathematical concepts is to see how the new information is actually used to solve problems, so sometimes its very useful to just go through a bunch of problems with a student and talk about why and how you use something new. So I am used to looking at what the student's issues are and figuring out how to best address them. I do work in a very Socratic way, i.e., I don't just talk but I ask a lot of questions that get the student to engage with the material so I can tell what they understand and what they don't. I don't believe that rote memorization is sufficient - they need to understand how to think about what they are doing so they can choose the best approach to solving a given problem. Some examples: One student wanted to take the Compass test at CBC so she could get into a particular math class, but she had not taken trig at that point. I taught her enough in a few hours one afternoon that she aced the trig part of the test and got into the class she wanted to get into. Another student wanted to bring up his SAT II test score in math since he wanted to apply to a high level engineering college. He had been home schooled working his way through an online precalc program which, while it was good enough, wasn't particularly rigorous, and it didn't have any teacher interaction, which is essential in order to probe what a student really understands (rather than has just memorized by rote). We worked together on average twice a month for 60 or 90 minutes each time, and while I suggested problems for him to work through in the book, he really never took the time to do them after the first couple of months (not surprising, since he was carrying a full academic load at the time as well as tutoring with me). Nonetheless, he raised his score by about 100 points just by having worked with me on concepts, how to approach problems, how to understand what was being asked for, etc. What he lacked was speed in doing problems because he had chosen not to work on that on his own.

Chemistry

I've tutored a number of students in chemistry, from those taking it in high school or CBC, all the way down to young kids who love chemistry. I'm good at clarifying what is in the textbook, helping students understand how to apply what is in the book to problem sets, and creating experiments (for kids) to illustrate concepts.

Elementary (K-6th)

I am certain that I can handle anything covered in K-6 grades, given that I have degrees in both engineering and psycholinguistics, I have home schooled a child that learned to read at age 3 and figured out multiplication on her own at age 4, have tutored or taught many math levels, taught classes with LEGOs on simple machines, and worked with all three kids of my own all the way through high school.

Chemistry

I've tutored a number of students in chemistry, from those taking it in high school or CBC, all the way down to young kids who love chemistry. I'm good at clarifying what is in the textbook, helping students understand how to apply what is in the book to problem sets, and creating experiments (for kids) to illustrate concepts.

Phonics

Phonics is a method of teaching beginners to read and pronounce words by learning the phonetic value of letters, letter groups, and especially syllables. I have a degree in linguistics and have helped several children learn to read before they started school.

Sewing

I learned to sew in high school and made all my own clothing for long time. I still sew and use both a serger and a sewing machine with embroidery capability. I am familiar with both following patterns, modifying patterns to suit myself, and with creating my own patterns.

Algebra 1

I was an engineer out at Westinghouse and Battelle for 20+ years, with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in materials science and engineering. I have tutored or taught (homeschooled) in many levels of math, Latin, chemistry, and a few other subjects.

Algebra 2

I've tutored middle school and high school kids in algebra, geometry, and pre-calc, which includes algebra/geometry/trigonometry. I'm comfortable working with whatever textbook they are using in school or for homeschooling. I was an engineer professionally rather than a teacher, so I can't tell you what curricula I have used, since I haven't done that. I haven't tutored a bazillion kids but I have worked with my own three all the way from elementary through high school, I have helped their friends as well as numerous kids of my own friends, and I have substitute taught algebra on short notice for several weeks at Oasis School. The kids all aced that chapter test so I knew I had done a reasonably good job with that. I used a lot of geometry in my job, doing things like developing new miniature test specimen geometries when I had to get test specimens made out of broken radioactive duct sections. I can help give kids perspective on why geometry (or algebra, or trig) might be useful in the real world. One thing that always helps kids is translating math-lish to English, i.e., helping them approach whatever problem they are having with math jargon by re-expressing it in language they do understand (i.e., English). I help students deal with problem solving after they understand the concepts by helping them see how to state what they DO know, what they DON'T know, and how to get from one to the other. And I recognize that sometimes the best way to understand things that are presented as mathematical concepts is to see how the new information is actually used to solve problems, so sometimes its very useful to just go through a bunch of problems with a student and talk about why and how you use something new. So I am used to looking at what the student's issues are and figuring out how to best address them. I do work in a very Socratic way, i.e., I don't just talk but I ask a lot of questions that get the student to engage with the material so I can tell what they understand and what they don't. I don't believe that rote memorization is sufficient - they need to understand how to think about what they are doing so they can choose the best approach to solving a given problem. Some examples: One student wanted to take the Compass test at CBC so she could get into a particular math class, but she had not taken trig at that point. I taught her enough in a few hours one afternoon that she aced the trig part of the test and got into the class she wanted to get into. Another student wanted to bring up his SAT II test score in math since he wanted to apply to a high level engineering college. He had been home schooled working his way through an online precalc program which, while it was good enough, wasn't particularly rigorous, and it didn't have any teacher interaction, which is essential in order to probe what a student really understands (rather than has just memorized by rote). We worked together on average twice a month for 60 or 90 minutes each time, and while I suggested problems for him to work through in the book, he really never took the time to do them after the first couple of months (not surprising, since he was carrying a full academic load at the time as well as tutoring with me). Nonetheless, he raised his score by about 100 points just by having worked with me on concepts, how to approach problems, how to understand what was being asked for, etc. What he lacked was speed in doing problems because he had chosen not to work on that on his own.

Chemistry

I've tutored a number of students in chemistry, from those taking it in high school or CBC, all the way down to young kids who love chemistry. I'm good at clarifying what is in the textbook, helping students understand how to apply what is in the book to problem sets, and creating experiments (for kids) to illustrate concepts.

Elementary (K-6th)

I am certain that I can handle anything covered in K-6 grades, given that I have degrees in both engineering and psycholinguistics, I have home schooled a child that learned to read at age 3 and figured out multiplication on her own at age 4, have tutored or taught many math levels, taught classes with LEGOs on simple machines, and worked with all three kids of my own all the way through high school.