Rebecca
Certified Tutor
While enjoying a rewarding life in the private sector as an engineer in the oil and gas industry, I find it very rewarding to help young people get past their frustrations with mathematics and start to enjoy learning. I have a degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette as well as a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the same school. I am experienced in tutoring algebra, pre-algebra and trigonometry at both a high school and college level, but especially enjoy tutoring algebra. There are more than one ways to explain algebra concepts to get students past a "road-block" and I love seeing that "I get it" expression on a previously frustrated student's face.
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Undergraduate Degree: University of Louisiana at Lafayette - Bachelor of Science, Applied Mathematics
Reading, Playing with my dog Moose, listening to music with my husband
What is your teaching philosophy?
I find that if you take the time to find that one explanation or visualization to help a student get past a stumbling block, you can use that method to help them on the rest of their journey.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
In a first session with a student, I think it would be important to find out not only what they are struggling with, but also what they understand so we can work together from there.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
If a student has a solid foundation in whatever subject they're studying, say a firm visualization of a line and how to manipulate the equation, they can go quite a ways from there independently with only occasional assistance.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
A student needs to see that they are making process. Constantly struggling and never really understanding but continuing to push forward only frustrates them. Get this one down solid, and make the student see that they have it and can go from there with more confidence.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Never push on without getting a firm grasp of the concept as that will handicap the student down the road. Often, there are many different approaches to a concept. Go through them until one of them turns the light on.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
If a student is reading a passage and getting to the end without having absorbed the information, it is helpful to go back and pick out proper nouns, actions words, and the subject of each sentence. It encourages the student to slow down and absorb the information.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
I do everything in my power to get a student, especially a shy or reluctant student, to talk about his or her self. Focus on their strengths before talking about their weak spots.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
It's easy to get excited about a subject that comes easy. But focusing on the small achievements made along the way with a difficult subject will instill confidence that breeds excitement.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Change one part of the problem or present it slightly differently and ask him or her to go back through the steps toward solving it.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Focus on the achievements. Dwell on them. Every new bit of knowledge increases confidence.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
Some students are visual learners; others just like equations. Some struggle with word problems; others find it easier to describe the problem. You have to spend the time to discover a student's learning path in order to get them back in step with the rest of the class.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
If the equation isn't making sense, we draw it out on a graph. If the graph is the issue, we pick the points and play with the equations. Once that light goes off, we can go anywhere.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
I'm a big drawer. I like to plot equations. I like to write down the information we know before we go looking for the information we're trying to find.