Patrick

I possess a rare combination of math, language skills and practical experience that allows me to teach a wide variety of subjects. I have a bachelor's degree in history from SUNY at Buffalo and a master's degree in liberal studies from Stony Brook University. I have tutored grades PreK-College for more than a decade.

My tutoring style:

Education is never a “one size fits all” process. Every student has his or her own unique strengths and style of learning, so I adjust my approach to suit each student’s particular needs. My clients and students often praise me for my patience and my ability to help them understand content better than their classroom teachers have.

Success story:

I once had a very bright ACT student who had developed an intense phobia of math. She had no trouble with reading or writing, or science, but whenever we worked on math she would tense up and even visibly tremble. She’d look at a problem and just freeze. Whatever the cause, it was clear that this problem had developed over many years and would take time to overcome. Using patience and a lot of positive encouragement, I gave her easier problems to work with for a while, and little by little her confidence began to grow. We even worked on some breathing exercises to help with her math-related anxiety. Eventually, she was taking on more difficult problems with less and less hesitation. In the end, she was able to improve her math to the point that it didn’t significantly bring down her composite score, and she was accepted into her top choice school.

Hobbies and interests:

I am a bit of a history buff, and enjoy trivia and reading about historical events. I also like watching baseball and other sports, was an athlete at one time and now have a son very involved in sports, so I can relate to student-athletes and their busy schedules. Also, I enjoy music and have a background in musical and stage performance.