My Math Tutor Treasure Coast

I’d like to explain why I hate - yes, hate - math tests with multiple choice answers. When a student receives his/her results, the focus is only on whether he/she chose the correct answer. As children get older - third grade and up, usually - they’re expected to solve questions (sometimes word problems, but not always) requiring multiple steps and calculations. For example: Calculate the percent increase or decrease for 12.5 to 8. They have to know to line up 12.5 and 8.0. They have to know how to borrow or regroup correctly to get 4.5. Then they have to know that 4.5 needs to be divided by 12.5, which means they have to know the rules for dividing with decimals. If they do everything correctly, they get .36, but that’s not the correct answer! They then must transform the decimal into a percent by moving the decimal over two places to the right to get 36%! One small miscalculation can throw everything off, so a student who does it all perfectly but maybe had 12.5 - 8 = 3.5 will get it WRONG! A math teacher who can see the work and realizes it was a simple mistake won’t think the kid doesn’t know how to calculate percent increase and decrease. They’ll tell the kid he/she needs to maybe slow down/check their work, etc. And a kid who hears this feels seen and knows his/her teacher knows what he/she can do. This is why, when I taught in the classroom, I’d make multi-step questions worth 4 or 5 points. For a silly mistake, I’d subtract 1 point only! I expected my students to comprehend how to do things, not be calculators!

Yesterday, in the early evening, a mother whose son needed help with his Math work texted me. I usually have lots of questions and do preliminary work before tutoring students. Not this time. He needed help immediately. She did what she could to prepare me, though, and sent me copies of the assigned work. We communicated using FaceTime and it went pretty well! The boy was attentive and engaged and I could see him making the needed connections. Mom stayed with him to help, also. I know it would be better if I met with him in person, but I applaud those who jump in and do the best they can with what they have available. I enjoyed working with him and hope I helped!

Some people think if you’re good at math, you must have a great memory and a great enjoyment for the many formulas necessary to calculate answers. I love math and I’m good at math, but I too can look at a formula I haven’t worked with in a few years and say, “Huh?” This happened recently when I had to teach a formula used with geometric number sequences. I didn’t remember it at all and the written formula initially looked incomprehensible. Having learned a long time ago that it’s usually silly to fear numbers and formulas, I reviewed the concept for five minutes, did a few problems, and I was good to go. I was also, again, irritated with how such skills are presented in textbooks and even by YouTube Math teachers. Every Math teacher should aim to dispel the belief that calculating deserves our fear and formulas should serve as instructions, not a mystery incapable of being solved.

As a Math Teacher for nineteen years, it pains me to see the low ratings the district receives for the Math FSA each year. It pains me, but I'm also surprised our district is only in the bottom third in the state. Since moving here in 2016, I've spent time in many classrooms and observed the pressures put on teachers; the minimal time allotted for learning skills; the burnout and frustration expressed by skilled, veteran Math Teachers alongside those who are new to the classroom and overwhelmed. Like it or not, teaching Math requires some hand-holding. The myth that only very smart people will succeed in Math persists and I've seen tough kids cry when faced with the possibility that their peers will see they don't get it. I've also worked in schools that provide extra-help for students, but invariably that translates to students being kept after school and working on computer programs. Knowing how many career paths require math skills - auditor, data scientist, software developer, financial analyst, medical scientist, computer engineer, architect, computer programmer, statistician, economist - I know the consequences of giving up on Math. Don't let your child give up on Math!

My sister has an MBA (although she’s a successful writer now) and my nephew is a professor of Finance. I haven’t lost, over many years, my discomfort with money. I don’t know how business owners do it. (Actually I do, and sometimes it’s ugly.) I’m in the business of teaching and helping students realize they CAN understand math. I cannot take money from anyone unless I’ve earned it. This got me in trouble with a few local tutoring agencies because I’d occasionally tell them when a student I tried to help wasn’t willing or able to learn and I didn’t want the money. If I’m hired to help your daughter or son and I accept payment, know that I’ve earned it and your child benefitted.

I contacted several tutoring agencies located in the Treasure Coast area that offer in-home tutoring, on-line tutoring, and center-based tutoring for students struggling with Math. I compared prices, availability, guarantees of state certification, experience, flexibility, and what they do for the people they serve. I also worked, briefly, with a few of them. When I say I'm the best available in the Treasure Coast, it's not a dubious claim. I'm an educator, not a business person. I won't insist you pay for a month or ten or twenty or more sessions. I'll be happy to tell you when I see your child no longer needs my help and will succeed in his class. (Although I'm always happy to take kids above and beyond their grade-level standards and connect Math to other subject areas!) I will not sit with your child while he or she does math work through a program answering multiple-choice questions. (Please never pay someone to do this with your child!) I will not charge you a 'registration fee', nor will I charge you more if your child has an IEP. If you hire me to work with your child, you'll know you have a Florida certified teacher with nineteen years of experience.

Skills learned in elementary and middle school Math classes are critical to success in high school and beyond. If you're unfamiliar with metric measurement, graphing, independent and dependent variables, your classes will be more difficult. My students in Chennai, India used their foundational math skills daily.

Math continues to be, for a large majority of students, the feared subject. When my son was three (twelve years ago), I'd visit his classroom every week in Chennai, India, to promote Math and creativity (I taught 8th grade Algebra and Physical Science at the school). Sadly, I've worked with too many teachers who openly express - to students - their dislike of; lack of success with; and obvious fear of Math. (Elijah's teacher here was not one of them!) Countering this is an uphill battle.

Yes, I am a Florida certified Math teacher! You can look up my professional license or the license of any Florida teacher here: https://www.fldoe.org/
* click on Educator Certification under the TEACHING tab
* click on Certificate Lookup under EDUCATOR CERTIFICATION on the left
* click on Public Search in the upper right corner

Melissa B. Clifford ( #1245010)

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I've taught Math since 2003, but I've also taught Science and Reading and I have a degree in History. My background allows me to connect subject areas easily. When I taught Physical Science in Qingdao, China, for example, our work with the basics of chemistry and balancing equations relied heavily on my students' math skills and my own.

Hello, You can read more about me and what I do at: mymathtutortc.com. My email address is: [email protected]. You can text me at (772) 333-5459.