FAQs

Because students do better when they feel safe and supported. Saying “I don’t know,” or “I’m struggling with this,” is incredibly difficult. And being a teen doesn’t make it any easier. 

And because students do their best work when they can fully focus on the difficult material in front of them— a task that’s impossible when they’re worried about how they’ll appear if they get a wrong answer or are overcome with catastrophic thoughts about how a poor quiz will lead to a poor test will lead to a poor grade so they don’t get into college and end up living in a van, down by the river.

If academic dread is ruining family dinners, soccer practice, and time with friends, then it isn’t too much of a stretch to say that it is meaningfully impacting a student’s quality of life. When your child knows they have a designated person to support them for an hour a week, they can avoid that stress and worry for the other 167 hours a week.

First, students often don’t ask for help when they need it- they ask several weeks after they needed it.

Second, knowing you have a scheduled weekly time does a much better job of helping your student feel supported. They don’t have to work up the courage to ask for help— it’s just another part of their week, like dance class or confirmation.

Third, having a weekly meeting helps students avoid becoming so overwhelmed and behind that it becomes difficult to dig themselves out of the hole (both because of how much content they need to learn and because of the emotional baggage getting in the way of learning). An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, a stitch in time saves nine… you get the gist. 

Fourth, if you’re going to need X hours of tutoring anyway, a student’s results are much better spreading them out over the semester than cramming them in during the last few weeks. Instead of being behind for weeks and stressfully burning the midnight oil to catch up, they can stay on pace or ahead for the semester by starting tutoring from week 1.

Right now I’m finishing my masters in economics, and tutoring lets me maintain the schedule flexibility I need to pursue my degree. I also just really enjoy teaching and tutoring. Even when I had a 50-hour-a-week job doing financial modeling at a real estate firm, I still tutored because I enjoyed it. I see value in what I do. I genuinely get excited every time I figure out a way to help a student understand something that they just couldn’t grasp 30 minutes ago. That feeling never gets old.

As flexible as I can reasonably be. I ask that students cancel at least 24 hours in advance. If I have an open slot I’m happy to reschedule a student’s session. And any current student is welcome to switch their weekly time to any other slot that I have available when their schedule changes. 

If we need to skip a week, that’s fine. People get sick, coaches forget to announce an extra practice, etc. I ask that clients try if at all possible not to cancel more than once a month.

I’m happy to do so! I’ve done it several times in the past and it’s always gone well.

I'm glad you asked! Most of the time I use zoom and an interactive whiteboard, like the picture above.
If a student happens to have a tablet, I'll give them control of the screen so I can watch as they do their work (it's easier than having to speak their steps or trying to use a mouse on a shared whiteboard). Some students set up a tripod for their phone and send a video stream of their worksheet.
And if your and your student want to try something else, just ask and I'll probably be open to that as well.