Tutor in New Orleans, Louisiana

Hello future students! Before we start working together, I'd like to tell you a few things about myself and my history as a tutor. I grew up in New York but fled to sunny California where I attended Pomona College. This is where I really started working with students, teaching them and helping them develop whatever skills they were trying to improve. I graduated with a degree in Philosophy and an English minor, studied everything from calculus to geology, but I really found my love for teaching while serving as an editor at my college newspaper, eventually becoming the editor-in-chief in my senior year. I worked with students one-on-one to improve their writing and research abilities, but I was also able to teach skills ranging from graphic deign to time management (a very important quality at a newspaper!). I ran lessons for large groups of students that covered journalistic ethics and writing, as there were no other journalism classes offered at our college. While I did participate in various tutoring programs in high school, my experience as an editor is where I discovered my love for teaching. I knew I wanted to keep working with students, so I became a tutor immediately upon graduation and have continued to tutor in the years that have passed since then. I have a great deal of experience, having tutored dozens of students for standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT, and ISEE, and I have also worked with many kids struggling with middle-school and high-school math and English. I have had a great deal of success with all of my students, seeing consistent and dramatic gains in test scores and grades. Some students are failing and are hoping to simply achieve a passing grade while others are already good students who are looking to push themselves even further. Every student has their own story, their own strengths and weaknesses, and I pride myself on really tailoring my lessons to each individual student. I know one size does not fit all, and I don't tutor as if it does. While seeing the individuality of students is a truly fundamental part of my philosophy, I think even more important is the overarching approach I take to all students (while of course adapting it to each student's specific learning style and struggles). I am never satisfied for my students to simply know how to follow a blind process that produces results without any regard for real understanding. I will never teach a mathematical formula or what sorts of words to look for in texts without explaining exactly why that approach works. I will start out with the simpler things a student already knows and then build up from there so that they find the answers on their own. If a student does not know how to find the length of a line segment for example, I will appeal to what they already know from geometry about the Pythagorean Theorem and how it directly gives the distance formula that looks so complicated and intimidating. And if they do not know the Pythagorean Theorem, I will keep going back until we reach a level on which they are comfortable and build from there. Once students understand how lines work and how right triangles can be found on a coordinate plane, they are able to derive the formula on their own without me forcing rote memorization upon them. Memorization is not even required because the student truly understands how to find the distance of a line segment, so even if they forget the exact formula they have the capability and the confidence to proceed anyway. There is nothing that makes me a happier as a tutor than the day a student realizes they do not need me anymore, when the student develops the confidence and proper logical thinking to deal with problems they encounter on their own. I am of course still happy to work with those students, but now they will know that all of the knowledge and abilities they are working to build will inevitably come from within themselves. Contact me with any questions about what I can offer and I'd be happy to answer! My rates depend on subject and distance, but I am always willing to work with you to find a solution. I generally prefer working at a student's home or in a quiet, public place like a library. I hope to hear from you soon, and I'm excited to get started. Best, Jesse Caro