Our College Tutors

Jade J

Teaching Style

I enjoy tutoring students of all ages. When a student reaches the moment of understanding and a smile comes across his or her face, my heart is filled with a certain level of satisfaction that is indescribable. My hope is to facilitate this process of understanding the best that I can. Thus, my teaching style is relatively lax and often humorous in nature in order to mitigate any intimidation that may accompany learning. I try different approaches to explain a concept, often referring to common everyday examples to simplify more technical ideas. I understand that not every student learns in the same manner or at the same rate, so I will cater my teaching style to the individual student.

Experience Summary

As a pre-dental student from Seattle University, I have created my own goals for a successful education. I am on track for earning two degrees, a BS in Mathematics and a BS in General Science. My greatest strength is in mathematics, as I have undergone extensive outside coursework in this field from an early age. I have tutored mathematics for four years, from middle school and high school students in after school tutoring programs to college-aged students and adults who are returning to college in my school’s Math Lab, an educational center designed to provide math help to those enrolled in math classes. My experience as a resident assistant has facilitated my ability to work with a diverse student population. With regards to my French ability, I was enrolled in a French Immersion program for the first four years of elementary school and had taken four years in high school.

Redha R

Teaching Style

I teach by example and I am methodical. I show a student how to solve a problem by going very slowly and by following a sequence of steps. I make sure that the student follows understands each step before moving on to the next one. I then ask the student to solve almost the exact same problem (with a slight change in numbers for example)so that the student learns the method and how to solve the problem by herself/himself. I am very patient but expect the student to be willing to learn. I tell students that learning a subject matter is more important than getting an A in a class - this is because 1. if you learn, chances are you won't forget (at least for a long while) and 2. you will get a good grade as a result.

Experience Summary

I have been employed by the IBM corporation for the last 27 years. I held numerous positions in hardware development, software development, telecommunication network development, project management, solution architecture, performance analysis, and others. As much as I enjoy my job, I have passion in Mathematics. I develop new ideas related to my work and expand them into U.S. patents and external technical papers. I informally tutor family and friends attending high school or college. I was a Mathematics teaching assistant at the Univ. of Pittsburgh for 2 years and at the Univ. of Michigan at Ann Arbor for 3 years. I love teaching and sharing my knowledge with others. I have published numerous technical papers and hold numerous U.S. patents as well.

Robert R

Teaching Style

My approach to tutoring was to start from the beginning of the subject being taught and determine where the students had a problem and what the weaknesses were. With accounting and finance, I found the best method of teaching was the repetitive completion of problems with the student doing the work with minimal direction, with my help only when needed. This built confidence, which often was the major problem, and helped them learn and understand the subject matter.

Experience Summary

As a graduate student at Hofstra University, I had the opportunity to tutor undergraduate students full-time in accounting and finance while earning my degree. Being older than those I instructed, I was also able to provide career advice when needed. Having extensive experience, and being an above average performer, the program director entrusted me with a heavier workload than the others. My passion and enthusiasm was evident to those I taught and enabled me to excel.

Erin E

Teaching Style

While attending Northeastern Illinois University, I worked as a Peer Leader for one year for their Peer Led Team Learning (PLTL) program. This consisted of me tutoring a group of students in a one credit hour Organic Chemistry seminar class during the Spring and Fall 2004 semesters. Instead of a traditional tutoring setting, I guided the activities of groups of 10-15 students in weekly seminar formatted meetings. I encouraged the students by initiating questions and discussions that led to conceptual understanding of current class material, often times encouraging the students to explain what they knew to others in the class. I also attended weekly meetings with professor of the corresponding organic chemistry class to review seminar materials and to communicate problems or issues. I also kept a weekly journal documenting the seminar issues and progress and communicated any problems and concerns to the class professor. This was a paid position. Additionally, in May of 2004, I was chosen by the Chemistry Department Head to assist in PLTL workshop training at a teaching symposium at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and later that month was also chosen to attend Chautauqua Short Courses at California State University to assist in PLTL workshop training. These courses were designed to train college professors in the PLTL method of tutoring, enabling them to start a program at their own school.

Experience Summary

I have earned two bachelor's degrees, a BS in Chemistry (4.0 GPA) and a BA in Communications, and I have 12 years experience as a paralegal and legal secretary. I have excellent verbal and written communications skills, organizational skills and an outstanding work ethic, which are a great asset in tutoring. I have tutored in organic chemistry and also helped many students in my classes while working towards my chemistry degree. I enjoy helping people understand chemistry and also believe that in teaching, it only solidifies your own knowledge of the subject matter.

Luketan L

Teaching Style

I have experience tutoring as well as serving the role as a teacher's assistant for an Accounting Information System Class at UofO. As I learn from past experience, I am very approachable and open to helping every student find academic success. I can accommodate to different styles of learning and aim to emphasize my teachings around areas where each individual student struggles the most. I am very relaxed and open to what each student needs.

Experience Summary

I graduated from the University of Oregon Honors Business Program with a B.A in Accounting and Economics in 2007 with a 3.8 GPA along with earning Magna Cum Laude recognition at graduation. I have completed my CPA exam and currently being certified for the State of Oregon. My prior career experience in Accounting includes an internship and a career with two Big 4 Public Accounting Firms: KPMG as an internal audit intern in San Jose, Ca as well as an associate at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Portland, OR. I recently switched over to private industry accounting in June 2008 and now work as an Accounting Analyst at Portland General Electric.

Emily E

Teaching Style

My teaching style focuses on the needs of the student. I tend to access how the student learns best within the first 1-2 sessions and then I can work with the student in the way that is most beneficial to him or her. Each student has a ball of learning energy inside them that will come out if you encourage them. I love encouraging students and getting them excited about learning new things. I try to simplify concepts to make it easier to grasp and compare assignments to life situations. There aren't many people who care about how other people succeed, but I love to watch people grow as they learn new ideas, grasp new concepts, learn some new studying tips and succeed in their education.

Experience Summary

As a graduate with a BA in English and Spanish I have developed a love for languages. As an English major I have read hundreds of books and wrote scores of papers, which gave me excellent reading and grammar skills. Writing papers also helped me learn to critically analyze and interpret passages as well as whole books. Education outside of my university includes a month in Prague for a four week course to get a TEFL certificate (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). During that month we, the students, taught the Czech students English. When I spent four months in Spain, I tutored a girl who needed a little extra help with studying for her classes. We worked together twice a week on her Spanish assignments in the areas of Spanish history, grammar, phonetics and literature.

Ellen E

Teaching Style

I prefer to focus on a child's strengths, even while teaching a subject that may be considered the child's weakest. I believe finding and integrating strengths promotes learning because it creates positive attitudes and a more productive learning environment. While understanding certain systems or theories is necessary, I think it is sometimes easier for a child to grasp challenging material when they see plenty of examples of the theory at work.

Experience Summary

As a recent graduate, with seven years experience writing in a professional environment, I excel at writing and editing because I understand the system of language, and I pay close attention to detail. I have nearly five years experience working with children in a structured environment, in addition to working with children of various ages as a summer camp counselor. I also hold a certificate with significant training in teaching English to non-native speakers.

Nigel N

Teaching Style

I believe that every child is capable of learning and that every child has their own style of learning. As a teacher, I believe in differentiated instruction that allows all students an equal opportunity to learn. I believe in teaching through student exploration. Once a child is able to discover a concept on their own, they are able to better understand and remember it. My approach to teaching is to expose students to practical problems. Once these problems are understood, I introduce a mathematical concept that should allow them to discover a solution to the problem. Throughout this approach, I’m always encouraging and patient. I always stress the importance of making an attempt at solving a problem, as in my favorite quote, “Without struggle, there is no progress.”

Experience Summary

During completion of my undergraduate degree in math, I always strived to achieve excellence in education and to pass on my love for learning. Throughout my college career, I’ve tutored at the undergraduate, the middle and the high school levels. Such exposure allowed me to determine the concepts students have the most difficulty in understanding, and I’m able to prepare accordingly. Upon completion of my degree, I accepted an analyst position with an HR Consulting firm. During these four years, I gained vital experience that allows me to transfer mathematical concepts into real world examples. Such experience has proven to be critical in helping students visualize practical examples of what they learn. I have since left the Consulting firm and entered into teaching. I’m finally doing what I enjoy the most, teaching and passing on a love for learning.