Alvina

Tutoring Experience

Having 5 years of teaching experience under my belt, my teaching endeavors stems back when I was still in high school. My client demographic ranges from grade school students to high school students while the subject I taught includes English (reading and writing), Math, and Sciences (chemistry and biology).

In college, I have been volunteering as a tutor for two underserved elementary schools through a UCLA student run club, Project Working with Immigrant Literacy Development. Through this club, I was able to mentor grade school level children and helped improve their English levels. I am also a learning assistant for the UCLA Chemistry Department and worked alongside professors and graduate teaching assistants to facilitate undergraduate organic chemistry courses. I have strong confidence in my chemistry and biology backgrounds as I have scored the 100th and 99th percentile, respectively, on the chemistry and physics section and biology and biochemistry section on the MCAT. Teaching has always been my passion, as I highly enjoy building relationships with prospective students and witnessing their growth over time.

Tutoring Approach

Chemistry Tuition Approach

For organic chemistry courses, my approach is to heavily use visualization, iPad drawings and screen sharing, during tutoring so students can have a better understanding of chemical reactions and mechanisms. Organic chemistry problems are like puzzles, therefore my approach is to lead students to the final answer without giving them the direct answers so they can practice critical thinking and problem solving on their own.

Math Tuition Approach

In the beginning of the lecture, my math teaching approach will mainly focus on the student’s understanding of the concept at hand. Getting the basics down is crucial for math subjects. After copious amounts of practice questions to make sure students fully understand the foundations, I would then add challenging questions that combine multiple concepts to propel the student’s critical thinking skills.

English Writing Tuition Approach

For English writing, I would focus first on the organization and clarity of message (or thesis) of the student’s paper, which I believe are the foundation of a writing piece. After carefully crafting the structure of the paper, I would then focus on the diction choice and sentence variation of the paper to elevate the writing style.