Julian: Streamwood tutor
Certified Tutor
I graduated on December 2015 from the University of Tasmania - located in Australia - with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. I am now living in Houston enjoying Texas hospitality and hope to give back by passing on some knowledge of my own.
I enjoy helping others do well in their studies. From high school through to university, I would often spend time with classmates and friends helping them with their homework (particularly math homework). During the last two years of my engineering degree, I was working as a Teaching Assistant (TA) running regular tutorials and lab sessions for first year classes of up to 70 students at a time. Despite this, I still prefer tutoring students one-on-one because from my experience this obtains the best academic results.
The subjects I tutor are specifically math related, as that is my strongest field. It can range from basic Grade 4 math through to Calculus 1, including standardized test preparation. My favorite subjects to tutor are Algebra 1 & 2, pre-Calculus, and Calculus 1, because it's great to see students realize these subjects are not as hard as common perceptions make them out to be. Nothing beats having a student tell you that a subject they were previously struggling with is now a walk in the park!
My hobbies include hiking, camping, table tennis, reading fiction novels, playing guitar, chess, and video games.
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Undergraduate Degree: University of Tasmania - Bachelors, Electrical Power Engineering
Table tennis, chess, traveling, hiking, camping, fishing, video games.
- 10th Grade Math
- 11th Grade Math
- 12th Grade Math
- 4th Grade Math
- 5th Grade Math
- 6th Grade Math
- 7th Grade Math
- 8th Grade Math
- 9th Grade Math
- Algebra
- Algebra 2
- AP Calculus AB
- Calculus
- College Algebra
- College Physics
- Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Elementary Algebra
- Elementary School Math
- High School Chemistry
- High School Physics
- Intermediate Algebra
- Middle School Science
- Physical Science
- Physics
- Pre-Calculus
- SAT Math
- SAT Mathematics
- Science
- Statics
- Test Prep
- Trigonometry
What is your teaching philosophy?
Patience is key. Everyone has their own strengths and learns at their own pace. I make sure my students understand a concept fully before moving on to new material.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
First off is an introduction. Then hopefully we can get to know each other a little better, what are our hobbies, interests etc. Then I will find out what areas they are struggling with, and what areas they are comfortable with. I will present some diagnostic problems to see where they stand, and go from there.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
I can teach them effective ways to study. I personally find that videos and worked examples are the most effective ways of learning a new math concept. If a student can find enough worked examples, either on the internet or in textbooks by themselves, they will be much more comfortable if something similar comes up in a test.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
It's hard to stay motivated in a subject with which you're struggling. The best way that I have found to keep students motivated, is to boost their confidence by showing them the subject is not as hard as they thought. Once they can do problems relatively quickly and get the correct answer, motivation naturally follows from there.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
I will try and break down the steps to identify what exactly the student is having trouble understanding. Often, I have from my own experience and from students I have tutored, that it is one small step in a larger process that is tripping students up. Once that issue is isolated and dealt with, the whole concept or problem becomes much more simple and clear.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
Reading comprehension can be an issue in math if presented with a worded problem. The best way that I have found to deal with this is to teach the student to isolate keywords in the problem statement. For example, the words "a number" often means the variable "x" they have to find.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
In my experience, the best strategy is: examples, examples, and examples. Theory of course is important at the beginning, but it is not enough. The more examples a student gets through, the more confident they are in their abilities and the more they can see how the theory is actually applied.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Telling them about past students I have worked in the past who were struggling in a particular subject and then overcame their difficulty can often inspire students and give them hope. Another way is by telling them about all the possible career options that involve that particular subject, and how many choices they will have once they get through it.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
As I said in another question: examples, examples, and examples! Working through examples is the best way of cementing knowledge in one's brain in my opinion. Also, before moving on to new material, I will ask the student to pretend that (s)he is the tutor, and I am the student, and explain back to me what I just taught them.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Baby steps: get through one problem at a time. Find out what points they are struggling with, address those issues, move on, rinse & repeat. Eventually, they will be confident in all of the subject material.