Tim
Certified Tutor
I am a Physics and Math tutor with 7 years of teaching experience at SXU and UIC. I can help you with the homework, exams preparation, tests such as MCAT, GRE. I speak fluently Russian and English. I have MS in Physics from UIC and BS in Physics and Math from Moscow Fiztekh.
My teaching approach combines the explanation of the fundamentals with practical problem solving techniques. I also ask a lot of simpler questions to make you solve the problem on your own. I pay close attention to your learning characteristics:
-Do you like to follow a set of direct instructions to get the result? Or
-You like to find a quickest way to solve the problem on your own, or
-You like to understand the material on a deeper level to feel more confident?
-Do you feel comfortable handling math formulas and equations?
If you can answer positively any of these questions, I will be able to establish a comfortable learning environment for you.
Connect with a tutor like Tim
Undergraduate Degree: Moscow PhysTech - Bachelor of Science, Math and Physics
Graduate Degree: University of Illinois at Chicago - Masters, Physics
Tango
- AP Calculus BC
- AP Physics 1
- Calculus
- Calculus 2
- Calculus 3
- College Physics
- Competition Math
- Differential Equations
- Electromagnetism
- High School Physics
- Languages
- Linear Algebra
- Math
- Multivariable Calculus
- Newtonian Mechanics
- Physics
- Probability
- Quantum Mechanics
- Quantum Physics
- Russian
- Science
- Statistics
- Statistics Graduate Level
What is your teaching philosophy?
My teaching philosophy is that anyone can learn anything; they just need to believe in themselves and be very patient. The tutor's job is to enable and help this process. Physics and Math are difficult subjects, but it only takes practice and curiosity for someone to become very good at it. I will help with the practice and try make you curious about Physics and Math.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Math introduction, to find out what's the level of math: - Do you know the Pythagorean theorem? - What are the sin/cos/tan of an angle? - How do you add two vectors? - How do you convert from miles per hour to meters per second? Etc.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
I will show how to solve the first problem myself, the second we will do together, and the third and fourth the students should solve on their own.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
By helping them to get better grades.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Slow down, go back and work out the issue. Sometimes, it's necessary to find a different way of explaining, like asking a lot of questions with examples from everyday life: driving a car, ice-skating, roller coaster and amusement park experiences…
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
Give a short outline/introduction, with the student taking notes.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Find out their learning abilities and the level of difficulty in their class, expose and teach them to a more advanced/harder level material, and observe how they do their homework.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Keep challenging! Can you solve this problem? Can you answer my question? What is the area of a circle? What's a unit circle?
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Ask the student to solve a problem that would use multiple topics, including the ones that we've already covered.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Ask the student to try his test/homework/quiz problems at the end of the lesson; usually they are able to finish everything in 5 minutes with a smile and start feeling that they can actually beat that course.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
I ask them in the beginning what their goal is, why they need a tutor's help, and what about the instruction makes them feel uncomfortable and left behind.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
I profile the students according their learning style, the level of motivation and learning goals, and choose the appropriate tutoring style: - show everything once by myself, and let the student repeat - make the student do everything by themselves and quietly watch - solve the problem together while interacting a lot and asking lots of small questions -etc.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
Usually, the student's notebook and a pencil. Sometimes I work with white/black boards upon request. I can also use the internet, like YouTube videos for a demonstration, or other learning websites.