About Me

Hello! I'm Kate and I am a rising senior at Columbia University earning my B.A. in English. Before studying English at Columbia, I earned my Bachelors of Music in cello performance while being a pre-med/aspiring engineering student. I am offering tutoring in group/individual reading comprehension, critical reading at all levels, individual essay support, group writing workshops, GRE verbal coaching, middle-school math, algebra, precalculus and calculus. *** As a math tutor: I love teaching math because I love elucidating math concepts and logic. In fact I really think math is more related to language/reasoning skills as opposed to what is commonly perceived as "STEM skills." (I don't believe STEM and humanities are as separated as people seem to think). One of my chemistry professors used to tell us that when you are capable of explaining the concepts to yourself (i.e. teach yourself), that's when you really understand something. This is the skill I aim to give my math students. I want to guide them to deeply understand math problems/concepts by being able to explain concepts to themselves. Establishing deep understanding is the only way to start building the confidence to tackle any problem at hand instead of arbitrarily applying formulas. *** As a literature/critical reading tutor: As a student of literature and a creative writer, I love nothing more than leading workshops and inspiring discussion about books. Some of my favorite books include Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Charlotte Bronte's Villette, Elena Ferrante's Neopolitan Quartets, and Tayeb Salih's Season of Migration to the North. I believe that books are a perfect medium to train students (and all human-beings) to sit with uncertainty and grapple with complexities, whether that is through understanding individual perspectives or contradictory tensions in novels. The critical creativity required in reading and writing both academically and creatively is the key skill I aim to provide as a tutor. In addition to helping students achieve excellent understanding for school assignments and exams, my ultimate goal is to inspire students to extend their appreciation for the power of words beyond the classroom: to use writing as a powerful tool for self-exploration and social involvement, and reading as a means to deepen our understanding both within ourselves and society as a collective. *** As a writing tutor: I am obsessed with good writing and effective communication. As an English major at Columbia, I am constantly writing and editing essays. Critically revising and refining essays (my own and others) is essentially my full-time job. As a writing instructor, my goal is always to help the writer find the right words to express his/her thought most effectively (i.e. how to make it as clear as possible to the reader), thus I often work with structure, complex arguments, rhetoric on a sentence level, and so on. More importantly, however, critical self-editing skills is the crucial skill I hope to impart. (No good writer is without critical self-editing skills.) One example of a self-editing technique is looking at your own essay and writing out the main idea of each paragraph: if it contains more than one main idea, you may need to consider separating them into two paragraphs for readerly clarity. This may sound simple, but in practice it can get extremely knotty, which is how I can help. Additionally, I am a published author and will absolutely love to work with creative writers. *** More general teaching philosophies Previously, I have taught music theory and given private piano and cello lessons to students of all ages. Being a music teacher has taught me the vital importance of making the classroom a collaborative space, given that musical techniques and concepts present individualized challenges to students that cannot be overcome without finding creative ways of modifying approaches based on students' unique learning profile. Additionally, I believe that the psychology of learning plays a vital role in an effective transfer of knowledge, and aim to create a collaborative space where the student is engaged, ready to be challenged, but comfortable asking questions and seeking help when struggling. (Especially in math, the fear of the subject is 70% of the battle. This is coming from personal experience)

Education & Certifications

Tutoring Subjects