Sarah Teaches Math

I have been professionally tutoring math for over 10 years, and have helped over 100 people learn math. I also have a B.A. degree in mathematics from the University of California Berkeley. As an educator, I believe the most important part of my job is listening to my students. Listening is a complicated process. It involves not only hearing, seeing, and observing my students, but appreciating, respecting, and valuing the way they think, view the world, and solve problems. It requires that not only do I value the way my student's think, but that I also encourage them to think their way when learning math, and find ways that the two can complement each other. It requires me to be open minded, aware of my student, patient, and flexible. The most valuable tool in my job is my students' own minds. Everyone thinks; everyone has solved some sort of problem in their life. The true challenge is how to help my students apply their own thinking to math. My students own the subject, not the other way around. I ask my students lots of questions when tutoring them. Some questions are there for me simply to learn about my students, how they think, what works for them, etc. Other questions are designed to specifically engage them in the material. These questions are designed simply to make my student aware of what they are doing, what the math problem is asking, and what is happening in the problem they are working on. These questions lead to independence in my students' thinking rather than dependence on a tutor and show them that the answer lies in them, not in me or a teacher.