Find a Local Tutor Who Gets It

I would be an excellent tutor for Grade Potential because I love empowering students to believe that they have the ability to do the best they possibly can. I am a fun, reliable, hard working individual that genuinely cares about the people I come in contact with. The students I will have the opportunity to work with will get a kind, understanding, helpful, encouraging change of pace that will positively impact the way they view school and education. I am a punctual, repspectful, professional that will do my very best at all times.

I feel that I am very good teaching and working with students, especially in a one on one setting. I am very patient and get a lot of satisfaction in helping students to succeed and to feel more confident in themselves and their capabilities. I am very consistent and reliable. I also enjoy helping students to answer questions for themselves and facilitating the learning process by challenging them to come up with answers on their own with guidance.

I also was a trained writing center tutor as an undergraduate at Marquette University and was the coordinator of the Graduate Writing Center at Penn State. These were face-to-face tutoring sessions that could last anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. I helped with all stages of the writing process such as brainstorming, organizing, editing, revising. My experience as a tutor lead to my interest in a career as a college writing professor and I used the same techniques when I had office hours with students.

While living in Orange county in the early 2000's, I worked through Professional Tutors of America and tutored a 5th grade student in Math. While attending Irvine Valley College, I worked in the Learning Center there and tutored in English, Spanish and Math. When I was attending Cal State Fullerton, I worked in the Writing Center and tutored English 99 students (those who failed to pass the English component of the entrance exam.) I also worked at the King Learning Center in La Habra with students in grades 3-10 in various subjects. While we were in Colorado Springs (2006-2012), I worked a couple of semesters at James Irwin Charter Middle School as an English teacher for 7th and 8th grade honors students, teaching grammar and writing. I also tutored 2 high school students in Spanish while in Colorado.I feel I have a way of "reading" a young person as far as their attitude as well as aptitude and am able to clearly communicate my expectations and reiterate their expectations as to what they need in a tutoring experience. As stated above, I have worked with a wide range of students as far as ages and subjects. I am certainly reliable and have never missed a tutoring appointment.

I have two past tutoring experiences, both with non-traditional students. I learned from both of those experiences that each student learns differently and that when one approach doesn't work, repeating that will not be effective. I practiced finding multiple ways to get a lesson or idea across with the hope that at least one would fit their learning style. In addition to my intense scientific and mathematical background, I am confident in my ability to cover other subjects as well, although perhaps only at a high school level. If you're looking for a well rounded tutor with patience and the tenacity to keep trying new approaches until something works, I would be a good fit.

I would be a good tutor for Grade Potential because I believe that each student is different and his or her needs should be evaluated. If I see that my methods in tutoring a specific student isn't working out as well as I hoped, I would try to find another method to tutor. I'm also very respectful of other people's time. I try not to press my schedule too tightly to avoid being late to any meetings as I feel that time is very valuable and should not be wasted.

My strongest attribute as a tutor, aside from knowledge of a subject, is patience and the ability to recognize when a student is just not "getting it". I am able to come at a topic from different angles until I find the aspect that the student can understand in order to comprehend the issue or problem and then move forward. I have held many jobs as a dependable employee and am a stickler for promptness. I have a hard time tolerating flakiness.

To Whom it May Concern,Apart from my many accomplishments already listed, I am personally committed to the development of students because of my beliefs on the subject of education itself. I believe that education is principally for the purpose of enlivening the lives of human beings by exposing them to the knowledge and inner workings of our world. This enables people to discover passion and develop a sense of their own humanity that they might otherwise be deprived of. As such tutoring is an opportunity for me to ensure success for a student thus allowing them to discover that passion for themselves and in turn provide others with purpose and character.Concerning my own character I believe the letter written on my behalf speaks for itself, having said that I will only add that my stake in my sense of right and wrong is both personal and deeply rooted in my nature. I do not consider my integrity to be something separate from myself but rather intricately bound up with who I am as a person. To do what is wrong does not just harm me, but those around me and disenfranchises those people by depriving them of what I truly have to offer. As such I cannot imagine keeping my word, or if I must break it, without informing the person who I must let down.I hope this provides you with sufficient information regarding my suitability. Thank you for your time and consideration.Sincerely,Matthew Bixby