Jinjer M.

“ I have been tutoring children and adults in elementary and secondary science and math for over 8 years. I also teach creative skills such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, hat design and fashion design. Whether I am teaching academic or artistic subjects, I listen to each student as an individual with different needs, in order to determine what activities would best help them learn. I use my creativity and...

I have been tutoring children and adults in elementary and secondary science and math for over 8 years. I also teach creative skills such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, hat design and fashion design. Whether I am teaching academic or artistic subjects, I listen to each student as an individual with different needs, in order to determine what activities would best help them learn. I use my creativity and research skills to put together appropriate lessons.

I have been most successful with students with an interest in art, and a strong need to move. Their artistic and kinesthetic intelligence can be used in creative, movement-based activities to help them remember what they need to know, even if it normally "goes in one ear and out the other."


Here are some examples of lessons that have helped my students engage with and understand their subject:

Elementary Math:
*Turning decimal division into a story about dividing money amongst friends, and using real money to help them "see" what borrowing means--exchanging dollars for dimes or dimes for pennies!
*Understanding place value by learning to use an abacus.
*Making salsa from vegetables cut to specific sizes and shapes to help get inch or centimeter measurements and angles "in her body."
*Using blocks to visualize decomposition of numbers for improving mental math capabilities.
*Using songs, rhymes, hand signs and rhythm to memorize the multiplication table.

Elementary Science:
*Practicing the fundamentals of electricity by making simple circuits with switches made out of a variety of household materials.
* Learning properties of light by making string posters--moving a thread to represent "reflection" "refraction" "transmission," and adding hand-drawn labels helped him get the words and meaning into his body.
* Understanding the fundamentals of potential energy, kinetic energy, momentum and inertia by making simple marble roller coasters.

Because my goal as a tutor is to help students become independent of me, I incorporate study skills instruction into every session. In order to acquire excellent study skills, students need to understand their strengths and weaknesses, build a repertoire of memorization, organization and comprehension techniques that work for them, and develop a tolerance for frustration. I have used a variety of techniques to help students achieve these goals.

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