Duncan

I am a university-taught instructor who can combine development theory research with pedagogy. I can smell a misconception a mile away and I radiate confidence and precision without ever compromising my ability to listen to students and value their inputs and ideas.

Ages I've worked with:

I have worked with students from 4th grade up to college seniors.

My tutoring style:

My philosophy focuses on helping students become creative problem solvers who are capable of independently looking up needed information. This includes studying strategies, training to improve metacognitive awareness, and discussing long term academic goals. I meticulously include these aspects of tutoring into short term homework expectations and assessment preparation.

Success story:

I used to spend hours prepping for tutoring sessions while I was in undergrad. Most of those sessions were largely unsuccessful and I couldn’t understand why. I was putting in the time to help the student but they just weren’t improving. While organizing (but not teaching) a youth math circle, I noticed a volunteer teaching a small group using manipulatives. However, only the volunteer was interacting with the manipulatives. It was then that I realized why my previous tutoring ventures had not been successful. I was the center of attention, not my students. I was the one doing the math, not my students. The most engagement these early-practice students were receiving was mere emulation.

Since those early days, I have reflected on my teaching and emerged with a tutoring practice which has coached dozens of students to become classroom leaders in mathematics. I create such a tutoring environment by asking students open ended questions, suggesting when students should make a conclusion about their work, and give on-going coaching on good math-classroom habits.