Henry

I am a tutor specializing in math and science with almost a decade of experience. I have a bachelor's degree from Reed College, and I teach students in 6th grade through college.

Tutoring Style

I am a patient and understanding tutor who specializes in teaching students who have not had the best experience in their math and science classes. I'm able to quickly adapt my strategies to fit students' individual needs. I've taught students with testing anxiety, a fear of math, ADHD, dyslexia, and a number of personal circumstances that interfere with their learning. I also consider myself a pretty fun tutor; I always try to incorporate fun anecdotes and stories from the history of science.

Success Stories

Math: One of my favorite former students to work with was one that had crippling math and testing anxiety despite being very bright. Both of these are highly confidence dependent, but testing anxiety specifically can be hard to address because it comes up most when a student doesn't have access to a tutor. We worked on regulating techniques while she worked on problems, how to recognize when to step back from a problem that's become stressful or frustrating, how to navigate tests given her specific accommodations, and how to communicate with her teacher about what would be beneficial. By the end of the year, she had improved her grade from a C- to an A.

Chemistry: One of my favorite success stories is helping an adult student complete her prerequisites before going back to nursing school. It had been multiple decades since she was in school, so we had to go back and buff up her algebra skills before she could start working on her chemistry prerequisite. Eventually, she became more proficient in both subjects and is now a registered nurse.

Biology: One of my favorite students in biology was one who was running into problems interpreting scientific research. Scientific articles are often quite difficult to read if one does not have a lot of exposure to them. This student was trying to complete his college capstone project on a new type of cancer treatment. So, I taught him how to read a scientific paper, collect all the relevant information into a literature review, synthesize his own new idea in the field, and how to present his findings for his final presentation. He graduated college and is now working in biology research.

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Hobbies & Interests

My biggest hobby is probably gardening; I enjoy using my biology knowledge to cultivate an ecosystem and grow food for my community. I also play a lot of board and tabletop games, for instance I play a considerable amount of Magic: the Gathering with friends.