Criminal Justice Tutoring

As a child, I wanted to be a federal agent and originally began college with a double major in Criminology--I only dropped it because the courses were taught almost entirely by a single instructor and therefore didn't seem adequate to me at the time. However, my university had many courses which centered around social justice issues, and I always chose to research and write about these, including for my Senior Thesis on civil forfeiture which went on to be nominated for Senior Thesis of the Year. Subjects I've researched and written about include the following: the efficacy of mandatory minimum sentences, narcotic interdiction and how the increasing arrest rate impacts our already overburdened criminal justice system, use-of-force issues, crime statistics by state, less lethal weapons, police department protocols, racial disparities within the system, and a whole bunch of criminal law--I have practically memorized the TX Penal code at this point. Further, I've had tactical training that will be required of future law enforcement officers, including TASER and pepperspray training, firearms training, Implicit Bias training, and tactical role-plays such as active shooter situations, mock no-knock raids, interactive knock-and-talks with unpredictable subjects, as well as hostage negotiation simulations and one incredibly un-fun week where I was held hostage (voluntarily) to test my ability to remain mentally and physically stable as a hostage. The last item I mentioned was an experience I had during my time writing for a Kidnap and Ransom insurance company.

Education Tutoring

In addition to tutoring Education courses in the past, I also taught at Fulmore Middle School for 2 years, and at two other underfunded middles schools in Austin for just over 1.5 years. This was through a program funded by the No Child Left Behind Act--I went where I was needed--and I had a 97% STAAR test pass rate with my Fulmore students. Many of these students entered the program not knowing even their multiplication tables--I had one student who was 15, in 8th grade, and couldn't multiply past 3s, but he passed and was doing Algebra effectively by the end of the semester.

English Tutoring

This is my chief area of expertise, as my degree is in Writing and Rhetoric and I've been tutoring classmates on how to write since my freshman year of high school (age 13). I began professionally instructing to help pay for my survival needs my first year of college--2006--when I was 16 years old. Further, I am a professional writer with published work in various journalism outlets, regional magazines, and "ghostwritten" materials, as well as a plethora of paid legal writing and published academic work.

Music Theory Tutoring

I am a classically trained vocalist and began learning to read music at age 9, then went to Fine Arts Magnets for Middle and High School where I focused primarily on vocal performance but also learned to play piano, guitar, mandolin, and the basics of several other instruments. I continue to be a performing musician and have taught several fellow musicians who played by ear music theory. I also have a great track record with music theory students in an academic setting--mostly high schoolers and undergrads.

German Tutoring

I speak near-fluent German with a Bavarian dialect, and received a German minor from St. Edward's university. After my professor and mentor passed away, I took over his course as T.A. and finished his curriculum and was then hired back to be a T.A. and Language Learning Lab Coordinator at St. Edward's under the new instructor. Finally, I have the Goethe Institute Certification of proficiency, which I encourage all German students to pursue because of all the wonderful benefits the Certificate offers, namely, the ability to study abroad in any German-speaking country for local tuition (usually $200/semester). While this test is usually administered after German 8, I took at after German IV and passed with flying colours--my proctor also I told me I was the first student he had ever given a perfect score on the oral portion of the exam. I continue this practice with my students, pushing them try beyond what they believe their limits to be, and previous students say I make learning German fun by incorporating cultural elements such as history (nobody was laughing when JFK said "Ich bin ein Berliner"), literature (usually litttle-known Kafka shorts), music (never "99 Luftballoons", I promise), and just straight-up bizarre facts about the etymology and construction of the German language. For instance, take the suffix -zeug (thing); Fliegen means "to fly", "spielen" means "to play"--so what do you think a Flugzeug ("flying thing") or a "Spielzeug" (playing-with-thing) are?

Writing Advance Tutoring

Please see "English" qualifications, but I'll elaborate more here. I have published work in the fields of Academia, journalism--local, regional, online, and couple nationals, legal writing, magazines, grant applications, and ghostwritten pieces. Writing is the subject I have been teaching for the longest, about 13 years as of 2015--I taught people to write before I realized I could monetize the skill, but have been a professional writing instructor for 10 years. I have references galore, and when I taught Rhetoric and Composition II at St. Edward's, I saw dramatic improvement in a single semester because of the amount of personal attention I was able to give my students and the sheer hours spent grading/commenting. I firmly believe there isn't a person on the planet that I cannot teach to write effectively, and writing is the cornerstone to literally every other discipline or career you will pursue in adult life.

Writing Tutoring

Please see my Qualifications for "Writing Advance."

Middle School Math Tutoring

I spent almost four years teaching middle school. I taught at Fulmore Middle School for 2 years, and at two other underfunded middles schools in Austin for just over 1.5 years. This was through a program funded by the No Child Left Behind Act--I went where I was needed, to failing schools--and I had a 97% STAAR test pass rate with my Fulmore students. Many of these students entered the program not knowing even their multiplication tables--I had one student who was 15, in 8th grade, and couldn't multiply past 3s, but he passed and was doing Algebra effectively by the end of the semester. I've been privately tutoring Middle Schoolers ever since, and my experience in "the trenches" drove me to learn extensively about learning disabilities, which I consider a sub-specialty of mine because of the extensive psychological research I have done as well as practical applications with individual students that have driven their academic success. I've had students with everything from dyscalculia to every extreme of the Autism spectrum to Auditory Processing Disorder and PANDAS. There is a solution for every single one of them, and i make it my personal mission to find it!

Study Skills Tutoring

Since I teach students of all ages, study skills is arguably the non-subject academic area I have the most experience with, since I incorporate study skills into all my other teaching. Essentially every student of mine, past and present, gets study skills along with the subject they need to learn because often poor study skills lead to the need for tutoring in the first place. I'm quick to analyze weak spots, but take a holistic approach to find the problem and solve it. Your personality informs how you study, so I make careful observations on that as well as your stated problem to find the most efficient solution. For instance, if your problem is procrastination, it may also be an issue of time management--this can be solved with a variety of tools (planners, dry-erase calendars, cutting down on social time, etc.), but knowing which one will work will depend largely on your existing habits and personality. I find the right tool for the job through simple deductive reasoning, and the more straight-forward you are about your problem, the better.