Certified Teacher of 30 years teaches students to excel in Physics and in Math.

Learn more about Lyle

• When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

  When I was in high school, my cousin, who was struggling with her math asked me is I would help her for a few days. She has heard from my siter that I was getting honors marks in Math and wanted to see if I could help her. I agreed and I helped her with her math as I was working on my own homework. Later that week she had an exam and the results came back. She hurried to my house and announced, "I got 82% on my exam." I replied, "That great." Then I gave her a high 5. She stopped and looked funny at me and said, "You don't understand my parents hired and paid tutors for years to help me with my math but I could never score higher than 55%." She asked, "Would you please help me for the remainder of the year?" I agreed. By the end of the year she had attained honors and had a huge grin on her face. It is then that I knew that I would be a teacher.

• Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).

  My favorite subject to teach is math although I teach Science, English and World Affairs, also. I have taught every Math subject in secondary school except Calculus although I could. So many students fall behind in Math simply because they do not learn their multiplication tables wasting time solving problems or because of math and test anxiety. I teach them how to overcome these pitfalls and move on to achieve great results!

• Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

  Jesus was the greatest teacher of all time. He inspires me each day. I believe he teaches us to realize our strengths and weaknesses and to strive to become the best personality we can be. Part of that is fulfilling the role that you have in life. I feel that my role is teaching and that is why I am so passionate about it.

• What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

  To be a good tutor you need to be a good listener and be able to make quick assessments about student's areas of strength and of weakness. You need to be patient and consistent and offer clear instructions on the steps to solve a problem. Then you need to watch for and to correct any mistakes that the student is making and show them how to do it correctly and then check to see if they understand.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  As a student teacher I had been left control of the classroom and my supervisory teacher had left. I entered the classroom and found that someone had hid my lesson plan for the day so I asked politely if someone would return it please. No one did and so I said, "This is great. I am going to have to go through much material today and you will have lots of homework so I could be sure we would be on schedule. So I started teaching concepts and had 4 black boards full of subject matter and work to complete for Homework. When I looked back at my desk, my binder had returned. I said, "Thank God, now I can find my place; you are so lucky. I was just starting to get fired up."

• What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or still facing in your subject?

  What makes Math enjoyable and never boring is that you can solve many problems obtaining an exact answer. Even though some questions can be challenging; there is an answer.

• Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?

  I enjoy teaching all of the math subjects because I have the ability to lead the students towards understanding so they can solve the problems by themselves.

• What makes you a Super prof (besides answering this interview questions :-P)?

  I am a Super Prof because I am passionate about ensuring the academic success of my students and in teaching them the strategies needed for success. In this way they achieve super marks! Super students use Super Profs! It's that easy!