David

I am a tutor with broad experience improving students' math grades in a short amount of time and dealing with the infinite possibilities that go into teaching. I have a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science from SUNY Purchase and I tutor grades 3-College.

My tutoring style:

I am a high-energy teacher whose empathetic teaching style can help fit the needs of all students no matter how unconventional the student might be. If the student needs a creative approach to explaining a math topic or a more traditionally structured approach to creative writing, I am always going to work to ensure that every student gets their "Ah ha" moment. My main approach consists of finding a student's ultimate academic goal and working backward to create a realistic step-by-step plan to ensure that academic dreams become a student's reality.

Success story:

To this day, my most impactful success story deals with a student who just couldn't get her life together. It wasn't just her academic life that was suffering and on the verge of collapse, but every single facet of her life. After months of teaching when most traditional academic strategies failed, I simply asked her what was going on in her life. Within two sessions, I not only knew her entire life story (from familial neglect to true horror stories that no child should have to endure), but I learned what it meant to be a real teacher. Not only that, but the strangest thing happened. The student who couldn't show up on time or even complete basic assignments became the overachiever, the school outcast became a beacon of hope for others, and it taught me the most valuable lesson of all: it's the student that comes first, not the grades. Where there is genuine care and understanding between the teacher and the student, the student can accomplish things they never thought were possible. She ended up turning into her own teacher who no longer needed tutoring, and I became the student.