Grace Lee

It depends on the subject.

For SAT- I always ask for the student's previous score, and then before meeting me, to take another full practice test. Based on the lacking sections (math/reading comprehension/writing(which is basically grammar)), I would hone their skills in the said field. Every student is a different learner. For me, I need to complete every problem thoroughly, or else I'll feel anxious the rest of the section; however, for many others, they feel most comfortable skipping problems, and my goal is to try and find their most efficient way of performing their best.

For AP classes- There are very specific requirements to achieve a 5, which might seem troublesome, but that actually makes these classes easy to teach. The AP exams are not subjective tests. For example, for APUSH, there are only 3 or 4 styled prompts the College Board will give you for the free response section. For each set, the scorers will basically just check off if you give the evidence they're looking for. They aren't looking for pretty writing at all, but they want you to write in a very specific fashion, and I will go through the subtleties with the student. 

Writing Enhancement- Writing is one of the most important skills to acquire in a student's high school and college career. I was always bored in my English/Writing classes in highschool even though I loved writing. In retrospect, it was because no one pushed me in humanities, so when my parents hired an extra writing tutor, I discovered my own voice in writing and now genuinely enjoy writing in my spare time, entering in competitions from time to time.

To make this the most rewarding experience for the student, I hope to go over different works and find the most compelling authors. Once completed, I will give them prompts (ex: write a review on Amazon as if you were Hemingway/ imagine you were love, the emotion, and need to write a persuasive piece to hate).

As mentioned in my biography, I'm a Harpeth Hall Highschool (an all-girls private school in Nashville)alumna and a current student at Washington University in St. Louis. I took 7 AP classes in highschool and scored a 1550 on the SAT. I am currently majoring in the humanities at WashU.

Additional information that might be helpful is that I used to coach younger children in ice hockey, which still remains a large part of my life. I also taught violin to kids as well (held a scholarship at Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt).

Around $70/hr. Pricing can be flexible.

I've always loved babysitting/coaching/teaching and found that I work pretty well with younger kids. I hadn't tried an older audience (high school), but I decided to make use of my AP class/SAT knowledge.

Personality wise, I've worked them all: outgoing, shy, really shy, harder to focus, athletes, musicians, etc.

In terms of age, I've baby sat from toddlers to coaching and teaching mid-highschoolers.

In retrospect, there was this understanding that when we graduated from this scholarly haven of women for women (Harpeth Hall), we would be pushed to lower our voices into something softspoken and attractive. Something meant to interrupt, never to be interrupted by.

At least that’s what I was warned of.

So, to say I was nervous for my first co-ed class at Washington University would be an understatement. The days leading up to that first Monday cradled me in a constant state of anticipation and unease; the classes encroaching seemed distant and abstract, like they would never come. But suddenly, someway and somehow, I saw myself looking through the window of the wooden door of room twenty in January Hall, ready for my first lecture (What did Confucius Say? Ethics, Power, and the Great Books of China) with actual boys.

The smell of Lysol and the breezy nip from the air-conditioning hit me first. I saw unreadable eyes above masks and the spread-out seating of my unfamiliar, unknown classmates. I felt stuck, frozen in time from an invasive flood of senses. My daze was then interrupted by a bright greeting from my endearing professor of the class, Dr. Kim. I returned a timid and inaudible “hi” back, then proceeded to shuffle to the seat closest to the door. Like I was prepared to run away.

       The class surprised me. Within the first five minutes, we were asked these existential questions on what it meant to be good. Dr. Kim encouraged us to examine the paradoxical definition of heroes, asking, “Why and how do heroes appear? How does perspective change the goodness of a hero?” The milieu felt foreign yet comfortable. Interaction bounced from gender to gender, and the content proved to be engaging yet unexpected. The most bewildering part of that hour, however, was realizing that both boys and girls would volunteer to answer a question first. Both boys and girls seemed to be filled with the same sense of wonder and intrigue. Both boys and girls would thank both male and female professors. It was an anticlimactic ending really. I left with a sense of relief I never thought I would or could feel. The end of a new beginning.

Outside the security of Harpeth Hall’s particular feminism, I still feel empowered as a woman in this strange co-ed world. I still feel inclined to share my sentiments. Above all, I am still heard by both peers and mentors. For now, the horror stories of being swallowed up and silenced by male-centered opinions remain just that: stories.

I would honestly advise students to find a tutor/teaching who is younger, not because it applies to myself, but I found that kids are more comfortable with someone they feel like are more relatable. When they are more comfortable, I find that they study/perform better.

I would also suggest someone who will give them homework of some kind. You really can't just depend on the sessions to get better at a subject. Practice is a necessity for not only an increase but consistency in scores.

Everything and anything they can think of; however, to get specific, I would say to ask about foundations of the test. Think broadly.

Instead of asking, "How do I solve this interior angles problem? I never get these right. Oh well, next problem it is!", think, "How much does geometry take up of the test? What points of geometry do I need to know in order to get every geo-based problem correct?".