Our Tutors

Brittin B

Teaching Style

Briefly: high energy. I enjoy being in front of a class presenting new information to students. Personally, I have had a handful of great teachers and would like to be that type of teacher for someone else. I enjoy being able to answer questions and motivate others. Most of my experience has been in a group setting, but I am just as comfortable one-on-one. I get the most out of applying concepts that seem obtuse to a world that we see every day.

Experience Summary

As a graduate teaching assistant for the Economics Dept. at USF, I led structured help sessions for the students twice each week. I completed my Master of Arts in Economics, a program that was very math-intensive, in December 2008 and am currently instructing classes at Hillsborough Community College. Through high-school and college, I have worked as a private tutor in the subjects of mathematics and economics.

Andrew A

Teaching Style

I believe in making subject matter relevant to your child's life and strive to transform dry or abstract theory into an area of enlivened academic interest. One's ability to learn is directly proportional to the interest that can be mustered for the subject and it is not subjects, but the presentation of subjects, that fluctuate in their level of stimulation. My goal is to take an active interest in my pupil's life and through that to frame the presentation of material to their interests. I have the competency and diligence to master material and to mold it into a context that will empower your child to his/her potential.

Experience Summary

I am a firm believer in a well rounded education and that excellence in one subject complements excellence in another. Although I majored in Economics and minored in history, I took an abundance of science courses in order to satisfy prerequisites for dental school (not to mention my course load in dental school). Pursuing the liberal arts has enabled me to have a broad perspective and approach to all subject areas and equipped me to be proficient in tutoring Chemistry, Biology, Economics, English, History, Mathematics, and most other disciplines.

Douglas D

Teaching Style

I find that demonstration though example is the first step to understanding. This allows for an initial exposure to the material and plants seeds of knowledge. Adjuvant to demonstration, motivation and enthusiasm to learn the material must be taught. All the homework in the world cannot replace this! Regrettably, students often struggle due to poor instruction or vague textbooks which erode a student’s motivation. Fortunately this can be overcome with a little outside assistance. My long term goal of teaching is to foster a mature understanding of the subject matter. To master a subject it must be learned from multiple angles before the bigger picture is illuminated. Once a subject is illuminated it must be continually revisited for long-term retention.

Experience Summary

To me education is a way of life. My academic career has been driven by a thirst for knowledge. I have earned a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, during which my math, physics, biology, engineering (mechanical and electrical), and other science skills were cultivated. Afterward, I spent another year pursuing a M.S. in Biomedical Engineering, which further strengthened those skills. During this program I was contracted to teach biomedical computer science for sophomore level students. With higher academic hopes, I left the M.S. program, to complete a Ph.D. in Biophysics with an emphasis on MRI physics. My multi-disciplinary doctoral training had a heavy emphasis on math, physics, and biologic sciences. The doctoral training greatly increased my reading comprehension and vocabulary, as well as, strengthened my grammar and writing skills, which were needed to produce scientific publications. Throughout this training I gave lectures to graduate, undergraduate, and high school students on MR physics.

Alfred A

Teaching Style

I am a firm believer in the saying that "every child is gifted". I also believe that no two children are equal. These principles have guided me throughout my teaching experiences. Therefore, I patiently work with students by first assessing their situations and then designing plans to help them out. I am easy going and that helps me communicate effectively with my students.

Experience Summary

I have always loved teaching, so I worked as a teacher's aide at an elementary school directly after graduating from high school. I obtained my BS in physical science with a major in chemistry and a diploma in education. I also obtained my MS in analytical chemistry working in the study of the kinetics of metals in reducing environments. I used these acquired physical sciences as tools in my analysis. This has given me great understanding of these subjects. I have also tutored a lot of students through my graduate studies.

Francis Eugene F

Teaching Style

I always enjoyed teaching. I often was able to teach high school English classes part-time even while I served as college advisor and Guidance Director in 2 different private high schools. I especially liked English literature. It was challenging to get teenage boys to like literature, so I often used videos & other visual aids to help them understand and enjoy reading good literature.

Experience Summary

I always wanted to be a teacher ever since I was in the upper grades of grammar school. After attending a private high school on scholarship, I earned another scholarship for university attendance. After graduating, I taught for 9 years in elementary schools. I taught part-time for the next 14 years in a private high school, and also served as college advisor. Since 2003, I have been teaching adults in driving classes part-time.

Mary Kathleen M

Teaching Style

I believe that every person has the ability to be a 'good' writer. In academics there are rules that a writer must follow. It is important to teach the conventions of writing so that students can build a solid foundation. After a student knows the rules, they can transfer good writing to other aspects of life (Civic, Professional, Personal). In my experience, students come in with a rough draft and need some guidance on how to move forward. I have tutored in groups and individually, and in both situations I may keep students on track, but they are the ones who figure out what their strengths and weaknesses are and how to improve their overall composition

Experience Summary

I earned my Bachelors of Arts from the University of Florida in 2006 and soon after I started Graduate school at the University of South Florida. As a graduate student I have been a writing tutor at the college level. I first started tutoring at Saint Petersburg College in 2007. The students who came in for help were in a variety of courses, such as Creative Writing and Speech. Every person came in with frustration, but left with a sense of accomplishment. This summer I was a T.A. at the University of South Florida in Dr. Conner's Composition II course. This course integrated technology by operating on a Wiki and communicating through chats, blogs, emails, etc. I was able to stay an active participant by reading students' posts and joining conversations. Through my graduate courses I have improved my own writing skills. I am currently in a Composition course where we are creating rubrics and assessing writing of students at the University of South Florida. This course is made up of 6 students that collaborate with faculty and writing coordinators at the University to develop new rubrics.

Riley R

Teaching Style

My own experiences with academics and from tutoring have shown me that practice does make perfect. When tutoring, I have often drafted my own quizzes that focused on key subject matter to help solidify the material. I have discovered that this method helps work through the most difficult concepts while highlighting areas that need extra attention. Nevertheless, it is important to have patience and tailor a lesson to the individual student's learning style in order to help make them a successful student.

Experience Summary

During my undergraduate years at Brandeis University, I worked as a teaching assistant and volunteer tutor. My responsibilities as a teaching assistant entailed leading review sessions, holding office hours and grading exams/papers. Additionally, I volunteered for a year with the 'Waltham Group' (a student run non-profit organization) and tutored local elementary school students. Both my undergraduate and graduate education is heavily concentrated in the biological sciences. My education has been supplemented with 5 years of laboratory experience. Furthermore, I have developed strong time-management skills by completing 3 Bachelors degrees in a total of 4 years from a Tier 1 University as a well as a Master of Science degree in 1 year from a Tier 1 medical school. Lastly, I have successfully completed several key national standardized tests including but not limited to the SAT, SAT II: Biology and the MCAT.

Noah N

Teaching Style

I like to break down whatever skill I'm teaching in the simplest form at first. This means explaining the concept of the skill in a way that the student can understand what it is we are trying to do. I also try to use a pictorial representation of the skill if that is needed. After that I'll show them how I work a problem with that particular skill so they can see firsthand what the thought process is and the steps that are needed to use that particular skill whether it is adding fractions or solving equations, etc. Then I'll give the student a problem to do on their own while I guide them through the steps. If they get off on a particular step I'll correct them immediately and get them on the right path. Once I feel they understand what is going on and how to work a problem, I'll give them a problem to do without me watching them and see if they can get the answer right by themselves. Then I'll correct the problem and if they got the answer right, great, and if they got it wrong I'll then analyze which step the student made their mistake on and we'll work to correct it.

Experience Summary

I received my BS degree in Math Education in Spring of 2001 at Florida State University. While at FSU I worked in the Math Help Center for three months. I taught math for two years and decided to choose a different career path in Actuarial Mathematics. I am currently finishing my master's degree at Florida State University. For two years I tutored math at all levels at Sylvan Learning Center in Tallahassee. In that time I learned different things related to presenting the math in a way that can be understood regardless of the level of the student. Mostly I focus on explaining the most important steps of a particular skill and then guiding the student to developing their understanding of that skill.