My TEACHING PHILOSOPHY.
It's all about you.
To help you achieve your goals, we need to figure out where you want to go, where you are now, and what’s standing in your way. To do this, I need to look at your scores, but it’s not just about the numbers. The scores tell us what happened, but improvement requires us to figure out why it happened and then respond with what’s needed. Together, we look at content, strategy, timing, unforced errors, and subtle factors that contribute to success. Every student is different, but it helps to be able to draw on the experiences of working with thousands of people during the past 25 years.
Sometimes, it’s about the content, the material that never quite made sense or that you once knew but have forgotten. We focus on what’s most important for the test and for your goals. Some people need the tough polynomial questions to get top score, but others would be better off focusing on easier topics that show up more often. The goal is to get you the score you deserve as quickly and painlessly as possible so that you can move on to more rewarding parts of life.
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To do that, I learn how you solve problems and figure out what’s working for you and what isn’t.
For example, in reading comprehension, I consistently see people applying approaches that (sort of) worked for them in the past but are now holding them back. I teach new approaches, but sometimes the most important step is to unlearn bad habits.
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As I learn about you, I find out if excessive stress is getting in the way of your best performance. I see if overconfidence is leading to unforced errors and if a lack of confidence is preventing you from showing what you already know. And sometimes the real issue is motivation, and if that’s a concern, it immediately becomes the most important concern.
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In my own learning journey, I’ve had amazing teachers who understood me, appreciated me, cared about me, and believed in me, and this is what I try to bring to everyone who comes to me for help. I am forever grateful for my time with great teachers such as Mrs. Smiley, my kindergarten teacher, Mr. Bozzo, my sixth grade teacher, Mr, Marienhoff, my HS History teacher, and my Tae Kwon Do Grandmasters, Linda Lutes and S. Henry Cho. Each taught me unique lessons that I will never forget and prove that a teacher can make a world of difference.