I currently maintain a studio of 8-10 students who I tutor math one-on-one.  I typically meet with students (and parents, if they’d like) at coffeeshops and libraries in Downtown Baltimore, Mount Washington, and Owings Mills.  I have a few openings for the fall of 2017.

I taught math in Fairfax County Public Schools from 2006-2012, and student taught in New York City public schools from 2005-2006.  I hold a master’s degree in math education from NYU, and I’m currently an adjunct mathematics professor at the University of Baltimore.

I tutor all levels of math, from grades K through 12, as well as SAT prep.  From teaching in public schools, I spent a lot of time studying the math curricula, watching students learn and grow, and figuring out the most important concepts in math students should know in order to be successful in the real world.   While I’m no stranger to public schools, I also work with students and parents pursuing an alternative path, such as home school and Waldorf education.

If you are interested in a lesson, feel free to reach out to me at thetruebadour@gmail.com!

 

What happens in a lesson?

A typical tutoring lesson with me lasts an hour.  I cater each session to the individual student, based on what I think they need.  I may bring out manipulatives (hands-on tools used to teach math) or flashcards.  With high school students, I might spend more time working on them with homework, making sure they understand the concepts by the end of the lesson.  Sessions with me are also optimal for final exam review.

 

Why get a tutor?

With elementary and middle school students, my approach to tutoring is about laying a solid foundation for years to come.  Math consists a few major concepts and a wide collection of minor concepts.  The major concepts include the times tables and long division in elementary school, adding negative numbers in middle school, and solving equations in high school.  Math is frustrating for many adults because they were never able to master these major concepts, and thus never able to move on to higher level concepts.  My goal is to find these gaps in my students’ learning, and nip them in the bud.  However, mastery of these major concepts is not enough.  There are hundreds of vocabulary words in math, as well as concepts applicable to other quantitative subjects.  Students who do not have enough literacy of enough of these minor topics also become frustrated with math, even if they’ve mastered the major concepts.  To address this, I also teach enrichment through the use of word problems.  I encourage students to be creative in their approach to come up with their own ways of problem solving.

With high school students, tutoring is about fixing short term problems.  Passing the next test, doing well on the SATs, and making it through impossible-seeming homework problems that require a page of work.  Math can be a source of great anxiety for some students.  With teachers becoming ever more busy with increasing class sizes, it can help to have a relationship with another professional in the field.  Students have the opportunity to ask me questions they may not have a chance to ask in class, or are too embarrassed to ask in front of their peers.

As a professor, I try to stress the importance of math literacy with my college and adult students.  Math is all around us, and I try to instill a curiosity of quantitative concepts, and a willingness to learn math in order to better understand the world around them.  Math opens doors, regardless of one’s major– it’s true that an economics / math double major will make more than an economics major, but the same is true for non-math-related fields, like English and music.

 

Are you a composer?

I hold a master’s degree in math education from NYU, and a master’s in music composition from the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University.  After leaving public school teaching to study composition, I was able to support myself through graduate school as a tutor.  During this time I developed my practice, and by the end of my stay at Peabody I was so successful that I decided to just stick with it.

I do not think I would be as good of a composer, had it not been for math.  My interests in music and math education fuels a greater purpose to understand creativity, about which I intend to write a book.

 

Do you tutor online?

Yes.  I have done this before via online tutoring portals.  If you live too far away, or would prefer to be in the comfort of your own home, online education software is becoming more and more effective.  In addition to being able to speak with me in real time, we can also utilize a virtual drawing board, so I can explain concepts visually, and we can save the notes when done.

 

Interested in learning more?  Feel free to reach out to me at thetruebadour@gmail.com.