Daniel Hyuns Resume:

Some info about my tutoring experiences thus far:

For a little over a year, I've been helping students improve their writing, SAT scores, and Calculus grades. Almost everything I've taught to both fellow senior students and those in earlier grades has been from my own experience, instead of strictly following methods from a written guide. This means all the strategies I teach other students, I've extensively tried them before and confirmed their effectiveness. My tutoring experience has been very informal, as I have not taken any specific courses dedicated toward teaching students. However, throughout free periods and lunch breaks I've helped many kids at Windward with my methods, especially those in their junior and senior years.

Let me tell you a little about myself:

My favorite activities outside of school are going to hard rock/metal concerts, writing opinion articles for my school's Journalism clubs, tutoring students, enjoying fictional books and media like the Star Wars series, and working out. Many of my peers would be surprised to know after college, I'd like to become a personal trainer and help people get in shape. Ever since I began running Cross Country and Track in high school, I've realized how beneficial exercise is to our mind and body, and I want to help people realize these benefits with me. People are surprised to know I enjoy hard rock and metal, since most students are into pop music and rap. One of the best qualities of the hard rock and metal genres, is that most of its bands play in small venues. As people are crammed together into clubs and bars to enjoy these bands, there is a strong sense of intimacy that makes each concert very enjoyable. I am also a terrific writer, as I've spent over three years writing various articles concerning important world events, such as Michael Brown's death. As you might have guessed, I spend a fair bit of time reading magazines like "National Geographic" and "Scientific American." I have also recently just gotten into programming, and have done some hard projects with Python. It's one of the most interesting topics I've ever learned at school, and I can see myself pursuing a programming-related major such as Information Systems.

Why Ill be a great writing tutor:

I'll be an awesome Writing tutor, since not only have I scored A's in writing-intensive courses such as AP Literature and English 12 Honors, but I've also been writing for my school's Journalism clubs for over three years. Participating in Windward's Journalism groups have done wonders for my writing skills, and with them I've helped fellow students become good writers and Journalists. I was tasked with writing OP-EDs, or opinion articles, for the Windward Bridge and the Windward Policy Journal. As I wrote more OP-EDs about global trends, such as the popularization of internet memes, or the Hong Kong Protests, I gained a lot of experience on what makes a strong argument and a persuasive paper. I also became much better at communicating with fellow writers, and understanding their strengths and weaknesses. Toward the end of my junior year, I became an opinion editor for these two groups, and took a more active role teaching students to improve their writing. I taught not just Journalism students, but also those in English classes how to: give interesting yet relevant background information, interview people and get valuable quotes for articles, use punctuation to emphasize certain points, use more direct language to communicate, write an efficient thesis that does not give too much information, and connect all examples and explanations back to the thesis.

Why Ill be an amazing SAT tutor:

I'm confident as a SAT tutor, I'll boost students' scores in all three fields. Although I am strong in math and writing, my best topic of instruction is critical reading. Since I finished my SAT during the summer leading into senior year, I was able to help some of my peers with their SATs, especially with critical reading: the section that seemed to be the most troublesome to Windward's students. My top strategies for improving on the critical reading section would include: make brief summaries for each paragraph, underline or circle important adjectives, and to always remember the context of one answer varies depending on each paragraph. An effective tip I've realized is to read difficult literature daily. Whether it be a classic novel like "The Scarlet Letter" or magazines like "The Economist," reading challenging pieces such as these will greatly help with vocabulary, reading skills, and recognition of important details. I would also be a strong tutor for the SAT math section. From my experience, there are two elements that plague most people who don't get satisfactory math scores: the challenging problems near the end of each section, and careless mistakes on easier problems. For the latter, the most effective solution was to review even the most basic math topics to ensure the student had a strong math base, solve numerous problems, and practice math sections with a smaller time limit than originally given. Regarding the difficult "Level 5" problems that appear near the end of each math section, I recommended students solve very difficult problems, such as those from the SAT Math II subject test, or even from the AMC 10 and 12 math contests. Since these problems were beyond what the SAT math section tested they forced students to think outside the box and enhance their critical thinking, both of which helped greatly on the last problems.

Why Ill be a great math tutor:

Having taken Calculus AB and in my junior year and Calculus BC during senior year, I have a lot of knowledge and strategies to impart to future students. During my senior year, I sporadically helped juniors taking Calculus AB with quizzes, tests, and reviewing for the AP exam. At my school, the Calculus AB teacher gave tests similar to the AP format, in which there were two parts: multiple choice and free response questions. Two of my strategies helped students the most: making a list full of essential theorems and equations to memorize, and solving numerous word problems from any Calculus AB book. Many problems in AP Calculus AB, especially those in multiple choice, are "plug n chug"-type problems that can be solved by matching the given figures with certain formulas and rules. Hence, by memorizing important calculus theorems, students already set themselves a strong base for success. Free response questions on the other hand, can only be improved by solving many word problems, and that's what worked for every student who came to me. I will be just as effective in teaching students Calculus BC, since the type of problems in the course are nearly identical, and hence the same strategies can be used with similar effectiveness.