Jess
Certified Tutor
I am from Montana originally and grew up on my parents farm/ranch that they still own and operate. I graduated from Montana State University with a BA in Philosophy with a religious studies option. I love learning about the world and helping others to do the same. However, my first love was science and math. I tutored college statistics and freshman chemistry for two years at MSU. I want to continue to tutor math and science at the primary and secondary level alongside philosophy. My personal philosophy on education is that we are all both students and teachers and we all continually learn from and teach one another. Teachers and tutors act to facilitate new discoveries, and the best teachers strive to develop a personal learning strategy for each student so they may succeed themselves.
I've served two AmeriCorps service terms after college and recently moved to Portland May 2014 to seek new opportunities. I'm dedicated to helping others and look forward to getting to know my students.
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Undergraduate Degree: Montana State University - Bachelor in Arts, Philosphy
Bluegrass/American fiddle, yoga, camping, hiking, journaling, home cooking
- Algebra
- Algebra 2
- Algebra 3/4
- Arithmetic
- Biology
- Chemistry
- College Algebra
- College Biology
- College Chemistry
- College Physics
- Geometry
- High School Biology
- High School Chemistry
- High School Physics
- Math
- Middle School Math
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Pre-Algebra
- Science
- Social Sciences
- Statistics
- Trigonometry
What is your teaching philosophy?
I believe the tutor should be that little voice in your head that asks you questions and reminds us of things we forget. A teacher should be sculptor and not depositor. When I review concepts with students, I first ask what they know--quiz them a little--and then fill in the gaps until we have a solid concept in mind, and then we can work on example problems. The work is for the student to do, and I am the guide until the solutions are found.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
In a first session, I always want to get right to business. I establish the topic we want to work on and then our approach to it based on the needs of the student. We might then work on some problems or review concepts. I like to save the pleasantries questions for the end of the session or to sprinkle them in here and there. I want to leave having covered as much as we can.