"I love learning. I am passionate about math, and I love teaching it. My name is Ray, and I welcome the opportunity to meet your tutoring needs. One of my passions is to help students develop both competence and confidence using math to achieve their academic goals as well as to acquire some of the mathematical tools necessary to succeed in the workplace and to engage as thoughtful citizens.

I have been a full time high school classroom teacher for 19 years in Minnesota, Kentucky, and Tennessee. I have taught Geometry, Algebra I, and Algebra 2 classes for at least 10 years each. My teaching experience is both in general high school settings and in alternative settings where I have worked with students who struggle with both being in school and learning math. I have retired from the classroom to focus my energy on teaching mathematics one-to-one.

I thrive in one-to-one teaching where I have the opportunity to really get to know my students and where I can identify materials and procedures to meet specific individual needs. I love being a part of that aha moment when my student finally understands a concept that he or she has been struggling with for so long but now makes sense. One of my particular strengths is my resourcefulness. I will persevere until I find something that will help your student be successful.

My tutoring philosophy follows the Gradual Release of Responsibility teaching model. This strategy is characterized by a sequence of learning activities that shift the responsibility from the teacher to the student. I start by identifying the specific student needs regarding a concept, utilizing or creating activities to strongly support students, and then removing the supports so that students can successfully work on the concept without me.

I bring real world math experience to my teaching. I have served on the Board of Directors as Treasurer for 4 different organizations for a total of 20 years. I spent the first 12 years of my professional career as an actuary developing insurance products" less...