About Us
After ten years of classroom teaching, private tutoring, developing curricula, writing about education, leading discussions among students, and college advising on our own, we founded Central Park Tutors when we realized that there was room for a firm of teachers in NYC that was truly dedicated to the art of teaching, instead of companies that tried to fit everyone into a cookie-cutter or simply filled their rosters with people who sound impressive but don't know how to teach. What are the principles behind the art of teaching? Well, here are a few:
A Few Principles We Have Learned About Teaching:
Students learn best in small amounts. Overwhelming students with information gets them nowhere.
A new weightlifter doesn’t start with 300 pounds, he slowly works his way up to large amounts as he becomes accustomed to lifting weights. So it is in life, so should it be in education.
When students are avoiding work, it's usually because they don't understand it - not because they're lazy. Helping students understand their work is the best answer to motivation problems. Doing work well feels good; and everyone wants to feel good.
Students learn best when problem solving is modeled and broken down into sequential steps. Studies show that when students do something new, the brain is overloaded with activity. Modeling the problem solving sequence gives them a guide to managing the overload until they become accustomed to the activity.
The key to doing well on standardized tests is learning the material, not just tricks around it. Every major standardized test offered today actually tests basic math, grammar and reading comprehension skills. This is a good thing. We need those skills to thrive in society. We should teach them to the people we care about.
When teachers teach well, students enjoy it. If our students aren't enjoying the help, we're doing something wrong. We'll figure it out and we'll change it. Good teaching is a dialogue process. It involves listening as much as talking. Learning from our students about their difficulties is the key to teaching well.
It is possible for every student to reach their academic goals. For some it comes easily; for others, it takes time. If students have not yet reached their goals, it is our responsbility as teachers to figure out how to get them there. Our dedicatation to our students is the most effective way to inspire them.
To learn a bit more about our principles in action, click on our case study above. To learn more about us, the founders of Central Park Tutors, read below.
Susana Kraglievich began her teaching career as a New York City Teaching Fellow. After four years in the classroom teaching secondary school humanities, she decided to focus on tutoring. Over the course of two years, she worked primarily with a 4th grade learning-disabled student. She then moved to Washington D.C. and worked with students attending the National Cathedral School. She worked with several families as a homework helper and also taught SAT, SSAT, and GRE prep classes. She was then hired as the head academic teacher at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, College Park, Maryland, the nation's premier tennis training academy. She holds a B.A. in French and European History from the University of Vermont, a Diploma in Advanced Studies of French Language and Culture from the Sorbonne and a Master's degree in Secondary School Social Studies Education from City College. Susana's mother is from Ecuador and her father is from Argentina, so she is also fluent in Spanish.
Mike Wallach is a graduate with honors in Philosophy from Cornell University and holds a Masters degree from Columbia University. He is the winner of the Harrop Freeman Prize for Research and he was the Director of the Cornell Education Department Tutoring Program, for which he won the "Innovation In Public Service Award." He won the National CINDY Silver Prize for "Best New Educational Material" for his curriculum "Teaching Peace," is the co-author of the book "The Enemy Has A Face" and is a contributing writer for The American Prospect Magazine. Mike was recently a Presidential Management Fellow with the US State Department, where his analysis was delivered directly to the Secretary of State, the White House and the National Security Council, but he left politics to become a writer and teacher. He scored perfectly on his GRE verbal section and knows his students can score great too!
