Don

Rate $45
Response 1h

$45/h

Math tutor, SW Calgary, PhD, Grades 6-12, strategies for reducing uncertainty and stress.

Math
Algebra
Trigonometry
Geometry
Statistics
Logic

Lesson location

- online
- at home or in a public place : will travel up to 10 km from Calgary

About Don

I have a PhD in mathematical physics. Most of my publications (all in refereed journals) have been in highly mathematical areas of quantum mechanics and quantum field theories. I learned a lot of the mathematics while I was on a two year SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship and teaching at the University of Toronto. I taught mathematics there and at other universities for twenty years. Most of that time I was Chair of the Mathematics Department. I taught at a small liberal arts school and so I had to coach a large number of students who were in most cases totally unprepared for university mathematics.

I also developed numerous courses, including a course called Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning which was a survey of most of the major branches of mathematics unified by a focus on mathematical thought and looking at mathematics as a science of patterns. I also created and taught courses in logic and informal reasoning. I have also taught the mathematics of patterns in elementary classes using a guitar to demonstrate how music and mathematics are related.

Over the last ten years I have been tutoring my daughters (and sometimes their friends) in mathematics, which means I was exposed to the curriculum of mathematics in grades K-8. On several occasions I home schooled our daughters in mathematics when we had pulled them out of school for periods of time to travel and live abroad. In every instance I worked out a plan for teaching with their teachers, who were kind enough to provide me with teaching materials and detailed descriptions of the work they would be expected to have done upon returning to school.

I took early retirement from my university and moved back to Calgary. Last summer I spent several months getting to know the Alberta Grade 12 curriculum and reviewing the material contained therein. I am, therefore, fully prepared to tutor students in every aspect of the entire Alberta 6-12 curriculum.

About the lesson

I begin by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a student. Then I work with the student at identifying and implementing appropriate strategies for reducing uncertainty and thereby eliminating stress and anxiety. The best strategy is to develop algorithms (steps) appropriate for each type of problem in a given area. This method highlights what stays constant through sets of problems and allows the student to see what can vary while the method remains the same. This extremely effective method, that I developed and implemented in over twenty years of teaching at the university level, is absolutely indispensable in mastering any area of mathematics. I am also an accomplished teacher of mindfulness and have over ten years of experience as a certified Tai Chi instructor. This background has given me a great many tools to share with students to keep them grounded, focused, and calm.

Math tutor, SW Calgary, PhD, Grades 6-12, strategies for reducing uncertainty and stress.

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Math tutor, SW Calgary, PhD, Grades 6-12, strategies for reducing uncertainty and stress.

Lesson location

About Don

About the lesson

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

online

Other tutors in Math

Ankita

Bachir

Dean

Jonathan

Emma

Shubhi

Dr Khaled

Mesfin

ADARSH

Kassandra

Rahim

Babak

Peter

Margaret

Khushvir

Mary Jane

Dishant

Angela

Kapil

Mohamed

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