Powell Math Tutoring

My typical process is simply catering to the needs of the student. Some students like to just get help on certain topics or assignments. Some students prefer a more structured plan for an entire course. For students who are just looking to get straight to the specific topic or assignment they need help with, I am happy to just jump right in! For students who would prefer a more structured and generalized mathematical instruction, I like to assess student capabilities through discussion or even a formal assessment, if preferred, to get an idea of where the student is at and what the best course of action would be. I can tailor individual instruction according to your needs whether that means filling in a few gaps or an starting from the beginning. Many of my students do best when refreshing or solidifying prerequisites for what they are actually working on. **Remember, math is sequential. If you don't have a solid foundation in the prerequisites for any given topic, making sense of it is nearly impossible! It's my job to fill in those gaps for you so that you can succeed.**

I have been both a professional teacher and tutor at Richland Collegiate High School at Dallas College as well as an middle school instructor with Garland ISD. I have tutored privately since 2019. I have a Bachelor's of Science in Neuroscience from the University of Texas at Dallas and have also completed significant subsequent mathematical coursework at Dallas College. The classes I taught at RCHS with Dallas College were very popular as were the related tutoring sessions. I received tremendous appreciation and praise from all my students for improving their understanding, grades and even mindset in their math coursework.

I charge $50 per hour for the first hour. This will include travel to your location. If a student is interested in instruction for the length of their class, a special agreement can be decided upon with special prices depending on the type of math course and the specific necessities of the student.

I found it very enjoyable to help friends and colleagues with their math courses, and began doing it as a favor early on. Having already been passionate about math and realizing that teaching it was both rewarding and enjoyable, it was a very natural transition for me. "Do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life." I love teaching math and I sincerely gain a great sense of pride and accomplishment from seeing my students succeed!

I've worked with all types of students. Some students need help with nearly every aspect of learning mathematics and require a lot of directed instruction to build up their mathematical foundation and skills. Some students just need a little extra help making a few concepts click. With enough hard work and focus, every student I've worked with has been successful in learning mathematics no matter where they are at when we begin!

I had a student who hired me because she scored a grade 2/100 on her second Calculus I exam and her next exam was quickly approaching. She was overwhelmed, discouraged and on the verge of dropping out of the course. I asked her to go back to the very beginning of Calculus I with me, and to work as hard as possible and to believe in herself. After three days of consecutive tutoring (several hours per day), she scored a 70/100 on her next calculus exam! She could not believe it! Needless to say, her open mind and diligence paid off! She passed her course and is now a self described "fan of calculus".

I have two pieces of advice: 1) Credentials or mathematical prowess doesn't always translate into effective teaching of fundamental math. Don't hire someone who's specific expertise is DOING high level, abstract, technical math. You're trying to learn and you need a TEACHER, not a professional mathematician! Hire someone who's expertise is TEACHING math. I've heard too many horror stories from my students who paid $80 per hour to highly credentialed mathematicians or engineers who simply couldn't teach the math even though they were obviously good at math themselves. My expertise, first and foremost, is TEACHING fundamental math from algebra through calculus. 2) Hiring a tutor is truly an agreement between the student and the teacher. The agreement is that both the student and the teacher will put in the effort to help the student learn. There is no magic trick with math. It requires effort, focus, and diligence. But it absolutely can be done! My advice is just to be open to putting in the time and effort to make hiring a tutor worth your money. When both the tutor and the student are putting in the time and the effort, learning happens very effectively.

Students should try to do an honest assessment with themselves about where they stand, mathematically and try their best to convey that to me. If you feel like you are understanding nothing in a course, then go back through your course or even previous courses, and find the place where things start to make sense again. That is probably our starting point in getting you where you need to be. Having this knowledge will help me provide the most effective and efficient tutoring sessions.