Andy

About Me

I have 9 years of experience tutoring mathematics to students of all ages and backgrounds, both online and in-person. Working at my community college's tutoring center and volunteering at schools across the country has made me comfortable tutoring a wide diversity of students. I have a degree in mathematics from UCLA.

Tutoring Style

I focus on getting my students to develop a deeper understanding of the concepts. When a student knows enough to finish their homework, I engage them further with the whys and hows that will allow them to do the problems they haven't been assigned yet. In a tutoring session I test my student's understanding with practice problems, then teach them with trickier examples, and repeat until they are comfortable with the subject.

Success Story

Early in my tutoring career, I taught a high school student who was bored and frustrated with math. They weren't a bad student—they got B's—but they didn't understand why they had to study what they were studying. We tutored for an entire school year and talked a lot about the motivation behind algebra and trigonometry. Their grades went up that year, but more importantly they became self-motivated, and we didn't need to continue our lessons when September came around. A few years later I learned that they had chosen to major in math at their university.

I once had a student from Mexico who needed help with her SAT math score, which was an important part of her application to U.S. colleges. She was scoring below average and we had a month to prepare. By focusing on basics that she hadn't mastered, we were able to get her practice test scores up significantly. She scored even higher on the test and was accepted to the university of her choice in California.

Hobbies & Interests

In my free time I play guitar, write music, and sing. I love reading literary classics and sci-fi. When I'm on vacation I'm either camping and hiking or visiting my family in Spain and Iran.