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Matthew
- Rate J$7,939
- Response 1h
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Students13
Number of students Matthew has accompanied since arriving at Superprof
Number of students Matthew has accompanied since arriving at Superprof
J$7,939/hr
Contact
1st lesson free
- Maths
- Algebra
- Trigonometry
- Chemistry
- Arithmetic
Experienced tutor in Mathematics in Blountsville, Matthew offers private lessons tailored to your needs.
- Maths
- Algebra
- Trigonometry
- Chemistry
- Arithmetic
Lesson location
About Matthew
I have a different business model with a different incentive structure. My goal is to start with the goal, the root cause of what motivates us to be educated.
I want to find better tools for learning. So, I want an incentive structure that rewards me for this. Charging more on a per hour basis does work, but it doesn’t make it clear to you the value that would be provided, versus charging per goal reached or resource.
I do think there are many good tutors out there. However, I don't know if they are taking a step back and asking more fundamentally useful questions, like “How do I search well? How do I know when I come across a great resource? How do I become motivated to learn? How do I memorize faster? What is the pattern for the things I should pay attention to? Why is that?”
I think that the reason tutors are successful is that they at least have asked themselves these questions at one point in their lives. Yet, I don’t think they realize that this is exactly the kind of stuff they should share. How do I learn well, vs. just answering a problem I have in the moment.
I enjoy learning useful, beautiful tools and techniques, especially when related to a problem I am motivated to solve. I enjoy being able to solve problems faster and more effectively than I even imagined possible sometimes.
Let me give you two useful tools that people may not know about.
(1) If you find the PDF article by John Dunlosky titled, “Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques”, he and others look at 10 techniques. On page 45 is a simple chart giving the conclusions on which techniques are effective and which ones aren’t (and note that you can combine techniques).
Apart from but related to which techniques were the most effective, here are two learning tips. (a) Active learning or conscious learning is more effective than passive learning. (b) The closer you can get to mimicking the testing environment when practicing, the better results you tend to get.
(2) Vocabulary is foundationally important. So, is there a way to learn it faster and better? I believe one way is to add more layers of meaning to a word. One way to add extrinsic meaning is to compare and contrast it with a closely related word (in some memorable sense). For example, comparing esoteric, exoteric, and exotic. Note that I don’t mean comparing just any two things, but I mean things which look like ideological twins (idea-twins).
I was surprised to realize that this actually works on a subject level. For example, in learning a language, a polyglot method is to compare and contrast a word from two similar languages, then find a general pattern to one’s goal language.
This also is true with learning about creating orchestral music, in comparing instruments in what they can and can’t play and how they affect the whole musical piece.
I enjoy learning because of the beautiful tools and techniques I discover. I hardly see others using these techniques. I think it would be enjoyable to show these techniques to others. This also incentivizes me to find more techniques.
I have around 50 hours of tutoring.
In terms of ‘training’, here are two tricks I have learned.
(1) One trick for memorizing is to include hand gestures or gestures with an object like a pen.
(2) In learning a language, I noticed that one can find patterns between multiple languages that inform the goal language, both in similarities and differences. These patterns can be interesting, and interesting tends to be more memorable than boring.
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About the lesson
- Primary
- Lower Secondary
- Upper Secondary
- +9
levels :
Primary
Lower Secondary
Upper Secondary
Lower Sixth Form
Upper Sixth Form
Diploma
Tertiary
Adult Education
Master’s degree
PhD
MBA
Kindergarten
- English
All languages in which the lesson is available :
English
The first step is to figure out 3 things. (1) What motivates you? (2) What goals do you have? (3) What are the biggest obstacles you are currently facing (e.g. health issues, anything that gets in the way of learning)?
One problem is to not be miserable when doing homework, as we then associate misery with that homework and we then tend to avoid starting it much more so.
The second step is to create a plan and/or schedule to reach those goals (i.e. tools and methods of tracking progress that are fun to use).
The third step is to search for tools, test them, then seek to understand how and why they work.
I prefer to work on late middle school and above. I have worked mainly in the high school and college undergraduate levels.
Look for a teacher that knows how to be a great student. This question is funny to me, because if you were to ask me what advice I would give for hiring someone other than a teacher, like an accountant, a financial advisor, etc., I would say look for a great teacher who provides clarity and tailors to your problem and its context. How well do they get at and understand your needs? How much talking do they do and how much talking do you do in explaining your problem?
One memorizing trick I came across is using a sequence of hand signs or gestures (about 10-16) to memorize a prayer. This reminded me of a time that I used a pen to tutor someone on how to memorize Aristotle's 10 categories.
A few things worth thinking about before reaching out
Principle: motivation makes learning easier for 2 reasons: (1) More drive and energy. More energy means able to go farther. (2) More drive and more emotion tends to go together. One way we remember is by emotion. So, we remember more when we are motivated.
So, what motivates you? Here are some areas which tend to motivate. (1) Dream goals. (2) Pain. Problems where one feels the pain now, which one wants solved now. (3) Either reaching or making significant progress to reaching (1) or (2).
Next, here are some what should be common goals to have, all of which I argue should be taught in school, at least some of which are foundation for learning more effectively: (1) health/happiness, (2) self-awareness, (3) productivity, (4) control over one's problems, (5) communication and relationship skills (especially for friendships and marriage), and (6) financial freedom
The next step after goals is finding the tools to make great progress in the goals.
The teacher's role, I would argue, is to find and provide tools, most notably tools that help one find tools e.g. internet searching.
Teachers should teach on how to search for better tools so a student has some freedom. This is because freedom motivates when done right (i.e. not too much, not too little).
Also, why should a teacher do all the work when a student can? This helps the student develop key skills. This helps the teacher be lazy (and of course look at the big picture to ask what direction the student should go and why, for helping the student reach their goals faster, or discovering even better goals)?
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Rates
Rate
- J$7,939
Pack prices
- 5h: J$35
- 10h: J$70
free lessons
The first free lesson with Matthew will allow you to get to know each other and clearly specify your needs for your next lessons.
- 1hr
online
- J$7,939/h
Details
I want to start off working for free since I don’t know how well we will fit together. My plan is for the free part to consist of having goals, creating a big-picture plan for the goals, and then working on one of those goals.
For my pricing system, I want a project or goal based system rather than per hour. I do this for two reasons.
First it is much easier to see how valuable it is to have a problem solved or goal reached than it is to spend an hour on solving a problem.
Second, I am more clearly incentivized to do a better job and/or do a faster job while keeping up the quality.
Given tutors charging per hour, there is a moral hazard that allows tutors to get away with being less efficient. I don't believe tutors consciously try to waste time, but I think they are ignorant about this incentive.
My long-term goal is to change the way the educational system is done. That includes the tutoring system as well.
The reason I bring this up is because I believe educational quality can be greatly improved at a fraction of the cost. I say this because I have been practicing this as a student myself. There are a number of free and low-cost resources in videos and books. In searching for the best among them and comparing them to the rest, I notice the best tend to be significantly more useful and clear to where I believe it isn’t worth settling with good or even semi-great authors and teachers.
Instead of one-on-one, why not first learn from the best teachers and then get tutoring help as a backup? For me, I see tutoring as a tool for developing those videos and books.
I would like to make tutoring free. I can if I sell videos and books (and they don’t even have to be my own, though I would like to create some). I prefer videos and books as a more cost-effective business model as many people can be reached with each video and book, but only one or a few people at a time with tutoring or teaching in a classroom.
One business model that I think should be done more of is guiding people to those best teachers.
Another possible business model is to focus on your goals by first clarifying, creating a plan, and then implementing them. In my own life, this is how I noticed myself solving problems, learning the most, and enjoying the most the work that I do here.
I like this because the value is more clearly defined in reaching a goal versus how much it costs to spend one hour on a goal.
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