Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 tutor

About Mary

I have a passion for helping struggling students improve their grades, studying abilities, and confidence! I try to not only improve students' grades in the class they're struggling with but to improve their overall study skills and their attitude toward learning.

I fell in love with tutoring when I was in high school. I started out as a National Honor Society volunteer tutor (2014-2015) and I tutored my peers in many subjects. I primarily tutored Algebra I and Geometry (high demand) but occasionally tutored students in English or Global History after school. I also had the opportunity to work with a struggling 7th grade student in Math. I was privileged enough to tutor him in his home in his pre algebra class, about once a week. In addition to this I volunteered with the Schenectady Reading is Fun program where I taught reading skills to preschoolers and worked with Kindergarten-1st grade students on sight words. I logged more than 25 hours of tutoring during this period.

After graduating from high school (2015) with an Advanced Regents Diploma with distinction in science designation, about 19 college credits, and ranked 16th in my class (3.7 GPA) I attended Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences for two years (2015-2017). I took time off from tutoring and pursued a degree in Microbiology. I did fine there, I left with a 3.2 GPA. I discovered I wasn’t interested in my coursework, and I didn’t want to waste any more of my time or money. I decided to leave and figure out what I really wanted to do.

In the Fall of 2017 a parent reached out to me looking for a tutor for her daughter. I tutored this 10th grader in Global History, Algebra/Geometry, and Biology for several months. She was my first professional client. I helped her with her coursework, sharpened her study skills, and did my best to improve her confidence in school. During this time I taught myself to create materials to use in tutoring and how to manage my time outside and inside of sessions. She taught me that tutoring is one of my true passions.

I also have some experience tutoring adults. I've tutored one adult in Intro to Statistics.

I use a combination of techniques in my tutoring practice, combining rote memorization techniques with things like gamification. I like to determine students' strengths and interests so I can structure exercises and examples around them whenever possible. If you're interested in improving your abilities, we will do well together!