FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
Middle School: $55 | High School/ASVAB: $65 | AP/College-level: $75 | GRE/GMAT/Praxis II: $85 Ask me also about special rates for more than 2 lessons per week. Group discount: 5% off per additional student from the same class/course
- What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
The most important aspect of working with a new student is feeling like we're a good fit for each other. The best way to do this is to set up a free initial phone call for us to discuss how I might serve you best. Once we've established that working together would truly help you, we move forward with creating a concrete game plan of how we're going to face your challenges head on.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I am certified through the Praxis II (5161) exam to teach high school mathematics (pre-algebra through calculus), but my range of subjects has included ACT/SAT test prep, college-level math, science, languages, and philosophy. Most especially, my accelerated learning methods for studying and conquering standardized tests have been recognized by my students and parents as exceptional and against the grain of what the majority of tutors and programs offer. As of March of 2019, I have had over 1000 registered tutoring hours on top of 3+ years of experience teaching in the classroom. This background, coupled with my bent for lifelong learning, has given me a knack for finding and rounding out students' weak spots and boosting their confidence in themselves. I like to think I've even helped some students find the joy in learning math, language, and philosophy, as I have, by helping them break the code and dissolve the illusion so often impressed on us that everything about these subjects is difficult, complicated, or even impenetrable. It's not. For me, every individual is a world of possibilities -- and that belief in me is what I think allows me to achieve my bigger purpose in life. As far as my background goes, I graduated magna cum laude in 2006 with a degree in philosophy and minors in Japanese studies and religion from Gustavus Adolphus College, a liberal arts school recognized for its high standards in teaching and scholarship. During that time, I also studied my junior year abroad at Kansai Gaidai University, Japan, through the competitively selective Asian Studies Program. As part of my degree, I was trained in critical thinking, analytical essay writing, and formal predicate logic and further enriched by my enrollment in the school’s "Three Crowns Curriculum" for advanced interdisciplinary academics. My inspiration for becoming an educator was furthered, among other things, by the opportunity to present my undergraduate thesis to a panel in the Minnesota Students Society of Philosophy for the purposes of an honors addendum to my major. In 2018, I sat in for, and passed, the Praxis II 5161 (Mathematics Content Knowledge), but ended up working teaching philosophy and computer programming to high school students in a local renowned charter school network. The rest of the time, I continue to tutor children, high school students, and adults in math, ESL, Japanese, and philosophy -- or am otherwise spending time with my wife and three-year-old at home.