Cara

I am a math tutor and teacher. I started tutoring as a high school student myself and have always been naturally drawn to help people learn better. My bachelor’s degree is from Illinois State University, I am a Stanford Hollyhock Fellow, and I am planning on pursuing my masters in pure mathematics very soon.

Tutoring subjects

Elementary Math, Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus, Math 1, Math 2, Math 3, ACT/SAT Prep, College Algebra, Calculus 1, Business Calculus, Linear Algebra

My tutoring style

I believe that students know a lot more than they think. Everyone has “mathematical instincts” and by following what make sense to them, we can find a student’s strengths, weaknesses, and best learning style. If you were to overhear a tutoring session with me, you will hear a lot of questions, estimates, best guesses, and ideas. That is where we find what someone really does know and create connections in between prior knowledge and new knowledge. When I am teaching a single problem, I am really teaching a logical approach that can be applied to all similar problems and even some sharply different ones. I will know I have done my job once students are able to read a new math problem, have ideas, and be able to fearlessly take mathematical risks by following what makes sense to them.

Success Story

After a while, it is hard to separate former students and their stories, but one student in particular comes to mind. This student was a junior in a freshman level math class. It was his third time in the class. I was not only his teacher, but also his tutor. We set up weekly check-ins and tutoring sessions to make sure he passed this time and would be set up to pass his summer school math class and senior math class. Unfortunately, this student thought he was not a “math person” and would not be capable. However, I encouraged him and slowly helped him realize that he is an incredibly logical person and his strengths were in being able to identify what he knew about the problem and finding similarities to other problems. Through this, he became more confident and willing to take risks in the problems. He saw the world a lot differently than myself or his peers, which meant that he solves problems differently and, with encouragement and some pushing, he found his own solutions. We stopped meeting one on one about halfway through the school year and he never came back to tutoring. He passed freshmen math that year, passed sophomore math in summer school, is currently passing senior math, and has plans to pursue a degree in computer science after attending community college.

Hobbies and Interests

2019: Card Games, Board Games, Escape Rooms, Hiking, Reading

2021: Animal Crossing, Legend of Zelda, Frisbee Golf, Painting, Baking, Crocheting, Cooking, Fishing, Sewing

My hobbies grew by almost 200% in 2020!

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