I’ll make you better at math
Whether you’re “bad at math” or if you’re good at it, I’ll make you better.
I’ve helped students from third grade through adult achieve their math goals. I’ve helped:
- A nurse finishing her bachelors
- A plumber pass the entrance exam to the union
- A third grader improve her math confidence
- Many struggling middle and high schoolers
- Many high achieving middle and high schoolers.
- Three 8th graders ready to pass the PCC math 111 (Pre-calculus) final.
- SAT math preparation
Math is really fun and interesting and I love sharing what I know.
Who am I
I’m Miles McCoo, I hold a bachelors in Mathematics with Computer Science from MIT. I spent 22 years working for Intel programming CPU design software. I’m basically retired now and I’ve always enjoyed helping young students (and adults) learn more math and work math problems.
What do I do
Students learn math at difference paces. Math education as offered by public and private schools move at a pace appropriate to 60% of students.
- Some students have fallen behind and are basically left behind. They don’t have the background knowledge to understand current material. I’d guess 20%
- Some students are bored. They could move at 2 or 3 times the pace of normal curriculum. I’d guess 5-10% of students
- Some students are doing fine in their current class, but with some encouragement, they could do more. I’d guess another 10-20%
What is my experience
I hold a bachelors in Math with Computer Science from MIT. The freshman calculus classes that all MIT students must take are already quite difficult and fast paced. The upper level classes gave me an appreciation for how math works and the many ways it can be really cool.
I’ve spent many hours in public schools both in classrooms assisting teachers and in small breakout groups. I’ve taught groups ranging from 1-1 to 12 kids at a time. I’ve been involved in Junior Achievement and Minds Matter. From my time in classrooms, I’m familiar with what different course levels expect. I’m also familiar with the cool math they gloss over.
What’s my approach
First and foremost, I’m encouraging. Math is only hard if you don’t know how to do a particular problem. Many problems need to be explained in a bunch of different ways to find the one that sticks. If you’re struggling, it’s because there’s some piece of background you don’t know. Fill those holes and math becomes much more approachable.
My work with students mainly centers on solving problems. I start out by asking students to work a variety of, hopefully easy, problems. Do they know their times tables? Are they comfortable with fractions? Basic algebra?
If students have specific course material, we can work on that, but I often go on “side trips” with them. See below.M<an
Many students just want a challenge. I can guide them through material more advanced than what their normal class gives.
Many students want to prepare for SAT testing.
Side trips
Very often, as I nudge a student trying to work a particular problem, I see that there’s precursor math they don’t know or that they forgot. Forging ahead is a recipe for frustration. Let’s take a side trip to get them to understand some underlying concepts. When we return to the target problem, things become easier or at least less difficult.
Why is acceleration valuable?
Free Workshop