Blogs

Blog 12 — July 13, 2025

The “Aha” Moment: What I Live For as a Tutor

There is nothing better than the moment a student goes from saying, “I don’t get this,” to “Wait, hold on, I see it now.” You can feel it happen. They sit up a little straighter, they look at the problem differently, and their whole posture changes. That moment, when everything clicks into place, is what makes this job worth it.

It doesn’t usually happen on day one. A lot of times, it takes weeks. We might go through the same type of problem ten different ways. We might go over it, then walk away from it, then come back again later. I’ll try diagrams, real-life examples, different explanations, whatever it takes to make the idea land.

I recall working with one student who struggled to grasp derivatives. We went over the rules, practiced problems, looked at graphs, and it still wasn’t clicking. He started thinking maybe he just wasn’t smart enough to get calculus. That’s a terrible feeling to carry around.

But we kept at it. I kept showing up with patience and new ideas. Then, in one of our later sessions, we were going over a graph, and I asked him, “What do you think the slope is doing at this point?” And he paused and said, “Oh, it’s not constant, it’s changing at every point, and that’s what the derivative is, right?” And I just nodded. That was it. He had it.

From that point on, he was a different student. He was more confident, more engaged, and way more willing to struggle through something new because he had felt what it was like to break through.

That shift, where a student goes from doubting themselves to trusting themselves, is everything. It is not about me having all the answers. It is about them realizing they are capable of figuring it out. And once they feel that, they carry it with them, not just in math, but everywhere. That is the reason I do this.

Blog 11 — June 29, 2025

The Role of Emotion in Learning Math

People like to act like math is purely logical. Like it is just clean problems with clean answers. No feelings involved. But that could not be more wrong.

Math brings out a lot of emotion, especially in students who have struggled with it. There is frustration when something does not make sense, anxiety when the clock is running, embarrassment from getting something wrong in front of others, and sometimes even shame from years of being told they are not good at it. I have worked with students who literally flinch when I bring out a math worksheet. Not because they are lazy or incapable, but because they are carrying around a heavy emotional history with the subject.

So when I start tutoring a new student, I am not just looking at the problems they are missing. I am trying to understand the relationship they have with math. Do they tense up as soon as we start? Do they try to guess what I want to hear? Are they afraid to make a mistake? That tells me more than any test score ever could.

My job is not just to teach them content. It is to help them feel safe enough to try. If a student is scared to be wrong, they are not going to learn anything. So I build in space for mistakes. I ask them to walk me through their thinking. Even when the answer is way off, I find something in their approach that I can validate. Because every time they take a shot without fear, they are building confidence.

When I see a student go from silent and tense to relaxed and talking through a problem out loud, that is when I know we are making progress. Not just academically, but emotionally. And that change sticks. Once they stop panicking every time they see a math problem, they start actually learning the math.

People think tutoring is about helping students get better at subjects. It is not. It is about helping students believe they are allowed to try.

Blog 10 — May 25, 2025

Teaching Students to Think, Not Just Solve

It is easy to show a student how to solve a math problem. You explain the steps, they follow the pattern, and they get the right answer. But if you ask them to explain why those steps work or what they would do if the numbers changed, they often have no idea. That is the gap I care about.

Most students are trained to look for shortcuts. They want to know the trick that will get them through the test. And honestly, I get it. School rewards speed and accuracy, not understanding. But that system breaks down fast. The second a problem is worded differently or looks a little unfamiliar, they freeze. Because they were never taught how to think, they were just taught how to memorize.

When I tutor, I ask a lot of questions. “Why did you do that?” “How do you know this is true?” “What would happen if this number was different?” These are not to put pressure on the student. They are to train the habit of thinking. I want students to get used to pausing and checking their logic, not just rushing to the finish line.

Sometimes students get annoyed at this. They say, “Can’t you just tell me the steps?” And sure, I could. But that would be like giving someone a fish instead of teaching them to fish. If you just memorize steps, they disappear the second stress kicks in. But if you understand the concept underneath, you can rebuild the steps yourself, even if you forget them.

I tell students all the time that thinking is a skill. It is like a muscle. And it gets stronger the more you use it. It is okay to struggle through a problem. That is how you grow. In fact, the students who become the most confident are not the ones who get everything right at first. They are the ones who learned how to push through something that did not make sense right away.

So no, I am not there to make everything easier. I am there to make it make sense. Because once it makes sense, the student does not need me anymore. And that is the goal.

Blog 9 — April 27, 2025

Why Zoom Whiteboard Tutoring Still Works, and Sometimes Works Better

A lot of people assume tutoring over Zoom is a backup plan. Like it is something you do when in-person is not possible. But that is not how I see it. Some of the best sessions I have ever had were online, and for a lot of students, it actually works better.

Let’s start with the basics. Zoom gives us tools. I can pull up a shared whiteboard and we both draw on it in real time. I can share a graph, annotate directly on a practice test, or open a Desmos calculator without switching devices. I can type, write, erase, copy past problems into the chat, and even record examples to revisit later. That kind of flexibility is hard to beat in person.

But the real power of Zoom tutoring has nothing to do with technology. It is about comfort. When students are in their own space, they feel more relaxed. They are not rushing to make a ride or sitting in a stranger’s kitchen. They are where they are comfortable. That makes it easier for them to ask questions, admit confusion, and stay focused.

I have worked with students who were quiet in person but came alive once we moved online. They started asking more questions. They took more ownership of the session. Something about being in their own room, on their own terms, helped them show up more fully.

And then there’s the convenience. Zoom makes it easy to fit tutoring into a packed schedule. No travel, no waiting in a parking lot, no scrambling after sports practice. If a student has forty-five minutes between dinner and homework, we can make that time count.

The only thing that matters in tutoring is the connection. Can we focus? Can we talk openly? Can we build trust? If the answer is yes, it does not matter where we are. Zoom is not a limitation. It is just a different setting. And when used right, it is just as effective, if not more.

Blog 8 — March 30, 2025

Tutors Are Not Teachers, and That Is the Point

In school, the teacher talks and the students listen. That is how the system is built. It is not necessarily wrong, it is just limited. There is one teacher, twenty or thirty students, and the clock is ticking. There is not much room for a student to say, “Hold on, I didn’t get that,” five times in a row.

That is where tutoring is different. It is not top-down. It is not about one person knowing all the answers and the other person absorbing them. Tutoring works best when it feels like a partnership. We are on the same side of the table, working through something together.

I once had a student who flat out told me he did not trust tutors. He said they only pretended to care so the parents would keep paying. He had been through a bunch of them, and to him, it was just business. Show up, fake some enthusiasm, collect the money, and leave.

So I took my time. I did not talk to him like a client. I asked about school, his interests, the stuff he actually liked doing. We joked around a bit. I helped him prep for a test, but I did not push an agenda. I just showed up and paid attention. Eventually, we hung out and saw a movie one weekend. Nothing academic. That was the turning point. After that, he started trusting the process, and we made real progress.

I care about the students I work with. Not just about their grades, but about their confidence, their stress, and their feeling of control over their learning. When a student knows you actually care about them, they learn differently. They stop guarding themselves. They start asking real questions. They let you in.

That is what separates tutoring from traditional teaching. I am not here to be an authority figure. I am here to help you figure it out for yourself. I am here to notice the little things, the hesitation in your voice, the second guess in your answer, the part of the problem you skip over because you secretly do not understand it.

The goal is not just to improve a grade. The goal is to help a student trust their brain again. And that only happens when you work with someone who is not just telling you what to do, but walking through it with you.

Blog 7 — February 23, 2025

The Keys to Trig, and What You Actually Need to Know

Trig has a reputation. The second students see the word “trigonometry,” their shoulders drop. They expect it to be confusing, memorization-heavy, and full of weird vocabulary. And honestly, that is how it gets taught a lot of the time. But trig is not hard if you focus on the right things and stop trying to memorize everything at once.

There are really just a few pieces you need to understand. First is the idea of ratios. Sine, cosine, and tangent are just comparisons of sides in a right triangle. That is it. If you understand what those words mean, you have already unlocked half of trig. Sine is opposite over hypotenuse. Cosine is adjacent over hypotenuse. Tangent is opposite over adjacent. If you can see those sides and what they represent, the formulas stop feeling random.

Next is the unit circle. Yes, it is a lot of numbers. But it is not a guessing game. Every number on the unit circle comes from just two triangles: the 30-60-90 triangle and the 45-45-90 triangle. That is it. If you take the time to understand those two shapes, you can rebuild the entire unit circle from scratch. You do not need to memorize all the coordinates. You just need to see the patterns.

And the best part about the unit circle is its symmetry. Once you learn how one quadrant works, the others follow the same structure. You just change the signs depending on where you are. Sine is positive up top, cosine is positive on the right, and so on. Once that clicks, students go from overwhelmed to calm.

We also talk about angles in both degrees and radians. That trips up a lot of people. So we pause and go over what a radian even is. Once they see that it is just another way to measure rotation, it makes more sense.

I do not want students memorizing a hundred things they do not understand. I want them to see where everything comes from. That way, if they forget something, they can rebuild it. That is a skill that will carry them through any future math class.

Trig only feels hard when you do not understand the structure. But once you see it, it all becomes a big, consistent system. And systems are easier to work with than a wall of flashcards.

Blog 6 — January 26, 2025

How to Actually Study for the ACT or SAT Without Burning Out

Most students treat the ACT or SAT like a huge, intimidating wall. They either avoid it until the last minute or jump straight into test prep books without knowing what they’re looking for. And I get it. These tests feel like they decide everything. But the truth is, they’re more predictable than people think. And with the right mindset, they’re manageable.

First, stop thinking of these tests as IQ tests. They are not. They reward repetition and attention to detail. The same question types come up over and over. So the best way to prepare is not to memorize tips or tricks, but to practice with real questions and learn from your mistakes.

When I work with students on test prep, I always start by giving them just one section, not a full test, just a chunk. We go through it together, and then we do something most students skip. We spend more time reviewing the wrong answers than we spent doing the section. Because that is where the real improvement comes from.

I have students keep what I call a “mistake journal.” It is just a notebook where they write down the question they missed, what they thought the answer was, why they got it wrong, and what they will do differently next time. That one habit is what turns a 26 into a 31.

The next thing is pacing. Students almost always struggle with timing. So we practice that early. I give them time goals per passage or per set of questions. We talk through how long to spend on each question, when to guess and move on, and how to check their pacing as they go.

And I remind students that they do not need a perfect score. They need their best score. That means showing up consistently, doing a few practice sessions a week, and not burning themselves out trying to cram. Studying for the ACT or SAT is like training for a sport. You need short, focused workouts. You need rest. You need recovery. And you need to track progress.

If you study the right way, with real practice, honest reflection, and good habits, you will improve. Not instantly, but reliably. That is what these tests are built for.

Blog 5 — December 29, 2024

Productivity Tricks That Actually Help Students, Not Just Sound Good Online

Most students are not lazy. They are just overloaded. Between school, sports, jobs, and everything else going on, they are juggling way too much. And when it comes time to sit down and get things done, they either do not know where to start or feel too drained to even try.

I do not believe in overcomplicating productivity. You do not need ten apps or color-coded schedules. What you need is structure and honesty about how your brain works.

The first thing I teach is what people call “eat the frog.” It just means do the hardest thing first. If you have math homework, an essay, and a discussion post, do the one you are dreading the most before anything else. That way, the rest of your day feels lighter. Most students do the opposite. They knock out the easy stuff first, then run out of steam when they get to the tough assignment. That never works.

The second tool is the Pomodoro method. It is simple. Set a timer for twenty-five minutes and work on just one task. No phone, no email, no distractions. When the timer ends, take a five-minute break. Walk around, get water, whatever. Then repeat. It sounds almost too basic, but it works because it creates pressure without stress. Students often tell me they actually enjoy the focus once they get into it.

I also tell students to stop writing massive to-do lists. Pick three priorities for the day. Just three. If you get through those, everything else is a bonus. This helps you avoid the feeling of being behind before you even start.

Another habit that makes a huge difference is calendar blocking. You do not just say, “I’ll do homework later.” You say, “From 4:30 to 5:30, I’m writing my essay in the kitchen with my phone in another room.” That level of detail makes it real.

And here’s the part nobody likes to hear: if you are not sleeping, none of this matters. You cannot focus if your brain is running on fumes. So yes, I will tell a student to stop working at midnight and go to bed. Productivity is not about squeezing in more hours. It is about getting better results from the hours you already have.

When you create structure, protect your energy, and get honest about your time, everything gets easier. Not perfect, but easier. And for most students, that is enough to start moving forward.

Blog 4 — November 24, 2024

Why Students Struggle With Algebra and What They Should Focus On Instead

Algebra gets a bad reputation, and I understand why. It is the first time math shifts from something you can touch and see to something more abstract. There are letters involved. There are steps that do not feel like they have a clear purpose. And for a lot of students, it is the first math class where guessing stops working.

But the problem is not algebra itself. The problem is what came before it. Most students who struggle with algebra are missing basic ideas that were never fully understood. Things like what the equal sign really means. Or how to mentally picture a number line. Or why parentheses matter. If those ideas are fuzzy, algebra becomes impossible.

When I tutor algebra, I usually start by backing up. I ask questions that might feel too easy at first. Like, “What does it mean to isolate a variable?” Or, “If 2x equals 10, how do you figure out what one x is?” These kinds of questions show me how the student is thinking. Not whether they can follow steps, but whether they actually understand what they are doing.

And here is the truth: most of them are just mimicking. They learned a rule, and they are applying it without really knowing why. But once we slow down and break things into simple ideas, the light bulbs start turning on. They realize that algebra is just a puzzle. You are trying to get something alone on one side of the equation. That is all.

I also show students how to check their answers by plugging them back in. This gives them immediate feedback and builds confidence. They are not just hoping they got it right, they can prove it to themselves.

The goal in algebra should not be speed. It should be clarity. Once students start focusing on why each step works instead of just memorizing the steps, they stop panicking. They stop second-guessing. And they actually start solving problems for real.

If I could change one thing about how algebra is taught, it would be this: less rushing, more thinking. Because when students have space to process, they do not just survive algebra, they actually get good at it.

Blog 3 — October 27, 2024

If They’re Not Motivated, They’re Not Learning

It does not matter how clear my explanations are, or how many times I walk a student through a problem, if they do not care about what we are doing, it is not going to stick. I have seen students sit through entire tutoring sessions and not remember a single thing we talked about. Not because they are lazy, and not because they are bad at math, but because they are disconnected. They are not mentally in the room.

That is why I never start a session by diving straight into problems. I always ask a few questions first. How was school today? What has been hard this week? What has been easy? And sometimes, I do not ask about school at all. I ask what they are into, what they are watching, what they are looking forward to this weekend. That kind of stuff matters more than people think. Because the moment a student sees that I care about them, not just their grade, they start showing up differently.

Motivation comes from connection. It comes from trust. If a student believes I am just another adult telling them what to do, they will tune me out. But if they see that I am in their corner, that I actually want them to win, then they start to try. And once they try, we can build from there.

Creativity helps too. If a student loves sports, we use stats in our examples. If they are into music, we turn problems into rhythm or timing. If they love to draw, we bring out the graph paper and sketch it out. It is not about making math “fun” in a forced way. It is about helping them see that math is connected to the stuff they already care about.

I also focus a lot on getting small wins early. If I can get a student to solve a problem they thought was impossible, that is a turning point. Even one win changes the tone. They sit up straighter. They start asking better questions. They stop saying, “I’m just not good at this,” and start saying, “Wait, can I try another one?”

At that point, the tutoring actually starts working. Not because the math got easier, but because the student started believing they could handle it.

Blog 2 — September 29, 2024

The Way I Teach Elementary Math Is Hands-On, Because That’s What Works

A lot of kids decide early on that they are “bad at math,” and in almost every case I have seen, it is because the way they were taught never made sense to them. The numbers were too abstract. The worksheets felt random. They were told to memorize things before they even knew what those things meant.

That is why I teach elementary math in a completely hands-on way. Before we even touch a pencil, we build the concept using objects. Blocks, coins, dice, erasers, toy cars — anything that we can move around and group up becomes part of the lesson.

If we are learning multiplication, we do not start by saying, “Three times four is twelve.” We grab three small cups and drop four marbles into each one. Then we count. Then we do it again. If we are learning subtraction with borrowing, we get out a fake dollar bill and ten pennies. We do the trade. We watch it happen. It makes sense because we are watching something real.

Most early math is taught way too fast. The pace pushes kids to memorize procedures, but without the understanding underneath, they forget them as soon as the test is over. What sticks is experience. If a student feels the numbers in their hands, hears them, sees the patterns, they do not need to cram. They already know.

And the other reason hands-on math matters? Confidence. When a student sees that they can figure something out by moving objects or drawing pictures, they start to trust their own thinking. They stop saying, “I don’t get it,” and start saying, “Let me try it this way.”

That mindset is everything. Because when students feel confident in second grade, they carry that into fifth grade. Then into middle school. Then algebra. Then calculus. It builds.

So no, I do not care if it takes a little longer or if we go through fewer problems. If a student walks away from a session actually understanding what we did, and believing that they can figure out the next one, that is a win. And that is what we are building every single time.

Blog 1 — August 25, 2024

Why You Can’t Skip the Fundamentals in Calculus I

Every semester, I see students try to rush through the beginning of Calculus I. They skim over limits, memorize a few derivative rules, and hope they can keep up by plugging numbers into formulas. And for a few weeks, it kind of works. But then the problems get harder, the graphs get weirder, and the gaps start to show. They hit a wall. Not because they are not smart, but because they skipped the foundation.

Here is the truth. Calculus is not just about solving problems. It is about understanding change. It is about motion, rate, and relationships between quantities. And none of that makes sense if you do not really understand what a limit is, or how a function behaves as it gets close to a certain point.

That is why I spend so much time on the fundamentals when I tutor. We draw graphs, we talk through what a derivative means, and we connect it to real-world ideas. I do not want a student to just know that the derivative of x squared is 2x. I want them to understand why it is 2x. What does that number represent? How does the slope change as you move along the curve? What is happening geometrically?

If a student cannot explain those ideas out loud in plain language, we are not ready to move on. It might feel slow at first, but the payoff is real. Once the concepts click, the rest of the class feels smoother. Chain rule, product rule, and implicit differentiation all make more sense because the student knows what they are doing, not just how to do it.

I have worked with students who started out thinking they were bad at calculus. After a few sessions of slowing things down and focusing on understanding, they start to enjoy it. Not because the problems got easier, but because they finally knew what was going on.

The foundation is everything. If you build it strong, you can handle whatever comes next. But if you skip it, the whole structure starts to shake the moment things get more complex. That is true in calculus, and honestly, it is true in just about everything else too.