"Hello, I'm Theo, a current graduate student at Teachers College Columbia University studying 7-12 Chemistry Education. I am currently a student teacher in the process of obtaining certification to teach chemistry in NYC public schools. For the past two years, I worked at a private high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts and an enjoyable part of my work was in the academic center tutoring students. I have over 10 years of experience facilitating a myriad of subjects (Health, Chemistry, History, Drama), chemistry is a passion of mine, and at the heart of all my work is a lifelong love of learning.

Tutoring can be a very vulnerable and difficult process for many students, as they may see it as a remedy for some sort of fault or deficiency they possess. My approach to tutoring is directly oppositional to this line of thinking, it is not that there is any deficiency in a student, instead, there may be something in their classroom that is telling them that they are not enough. The idea at the core of my tutoring style is to give the student the confidence, tools, and habits that set them up for success, in chemistry and other subjects.

Chemistry is an extremely difficult subject for students to feel welcome or comfortable with. Any time I share my profession I am likely to hear, "oh, I HATED my high school chemistry class!" This experience illuminates the issue with chemistry classes everywhere, they are not creating an environment that students thrive in, which means they need to find that elsewhere. I tutor in a way that respects the ability of my students and appreciates their successes rather than punish them for their perceived deficits. One of my students that I previously taught once shared that the skills and practices I offered him during our tutoring sessions changed how he engaged with all of his classes, not just chemistry. When he heard that I was going to study chemistry teaching in NYC he said, "I'm excited for the kids in your future classes who are going to get you for a teacher." less...