"Hi, I’m James. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in radio, TV, and film and earned a master’s in biochemistry. During graduate school, I had the opportunity to teach microbiology labs for several years. I learned to become an effective educator by not just presenting the material in an easy-to-digest way, but also recognizing who in the class was getting it and who was struggling. Developing this skill enabled me to identify and assist those who wouldn’t necessarily ask for help on their own. These experiences followed me to my next teaching job, which was inside a behavioral health hospital. This presented a different set of challenges, as the students we served were patients of the facility and temporarily away from their original school and their friends and teachers. Instead of presenting a planned lecture and demonstration to the class, I spent my time assisting students one-on-one with their computer-based lessons. This material included all English, math, science, and history courses from grades six through 12. This experience gave me a whole different perspective on how to meet individuals where they were and guide them to a solid understanding of the material. The diverse nature of my teaching environments and breadth of subject material have expanded my outreach to many kinds of learners.

As a tutor, I start with the Socratic method, where I ask questions to find out where the student is with the material. This informs what concepts to focus on during direct instruction. Additionally, having students answer questions begins to build critical thinking skills that they can take with them for a lifetime of learning. Proceeding through student-centered instruction, I like to see if the student can then explain the lessons back to me. I encourage any student to persist past a base-level understanding to a point where they can effectively teach someone else the concepts. To me, that is the pathway to subject mastery. Reach out, and let's schedule a session!" less...