SAN GABRIEL TUTOR, MIKE WALGENBACH
In 2010, two years prior to leaving LAUSD in 2012, I started San Gabriel Tutoring Services full-time to serve kids and parents in the San Gabriel area. It has been the best teaching experience bar none. The parents are grateful for the help. And the kids have been smart, cooperative, and dedicated to learning.
I graduated from UCI in 1992 with a BA in English language and literature, then earned a teaching credential the following year, 1993, and started teaching high-school English in Orange, Tustin, and Los Angeles for 20 years. The kids were the best part of teaching. Many kids went to college.
BENEFITS OF PRIVATE TUTOR
The immediate benefit of tutoring is that:
* Your child gets one-on-one attention from a literate adult, with eyes to improving his academic performance. And to build a portfolio of work that he can be proud of.
* Your child gets immediate and thoughtful feedback.
* Your child gets an accountability partner.
* Your child gets a literate adult with years of teaching, encouragement, and workarounds.
The goal in tutoring, or any learning environment, is performance.
* Your child learns to be a better performer at organizing and communicating information, specifically and accurately.
Developing productive habits is what disciplines any of us. The habits I teach will make your child more productive and increase his excitement toward reading and learning.
ACCOUNTABILITY IN TUTORING
Outside of personal integrity and convictions for producing the best work possible, a private tutor is your child’s best accountability partner. Working with a literate, knowledgeable adult will cause your child to view his work with the same importance because his audience has expanded to an adult who is invested in his success.
TUTORING SESSIONS
Goal #1: I help students with their nightly and weekly homework. My tutoring sessions are productive. I do not waste time.
Goal #2: Higher SAT/ACT Scores.
Goal #3: Improving reading comprehension through a variety of fiction and non-fiction works and interrogative techniques.
Goal #4: Build post high-school portfolio.
Goal #5: Maintain portfolio of work to present as proof of ability to employers or gig partners.
SKILLS MAKE LIFE RICHER
Reading, writing, listening, and speaking are skills that will always be in demand. But it is proof of these skills that makes them valuable. Just saying that you can read and write, speak and listen is not enough. You must have proof if you want others to pay for your skills. Writing books is also a skill that should be on anyone’s list, given how easy and marketable it is to write today with Kindle.
THE ECONOMY & YOUR SON’S SKILLS
The demands of the economy are changing. A lot of kids graduate from college without proof of skills or a portfolio of work. When they graduate, they’re unemployed and in debt. Not a great place for young people to start their lives. This has to be fixed before they graduate. A portfolio of work gives your kids something to negotiate with. You will need to know how to negotiate and how to market your skills. Gender studies or sociology, for example, is not in high demand at Boeing: your child won’t be able to support himself with that type of degree regardless of how interesting it might be. And beware that siren of “Follow your passions.” Don’t follow your passions. Don’t be led by them. Stop and think. Mike Rowe puts it better, “I do not follow my passion. I bring it with me.” Your passions are not what puts food on the table. Purpose does. Passions can burn out, particularly if you are not receiving adequate reward for them.
IMPORTANT SKILLS FOR YOUNG MEN
1. Leadership.
2. Communication. Listening is the first leg of understanding.
3. Emotional composition.
4. Problem-solving.
5. Marketing.
6. Negotiation.
7. Understand that “A man’s got to know his limitations,” as Harry Callahan liked to remind us. We’re all operating on limited information.
TIME MANAGEMENT
I prefer my time to be productive. Nothing worse than wasting time. For this reason, I keep a timed agenda. Anyone who cheats time is filled with shame. Pareto’s Law applies to all our efforts. What that means is that 80% of our efforts will produce 20% of our results. That’s just the way it is. What that means is that not 100% of your efforts will produce the results you want. Accept this. It is a law, Pareto’s Law. So to maximize the productive results from his efforts, I strongly recommend that students keep a daily planner. It can be an app, like Google Calendar, or it can be a printed daily planner. The important thing is that your child tracks his hours so he can prove to himself and others whether or not he is making productive use of his time.
Your student will learn. He learns more if he knows his purpose for learning. Goals establish that purpose. Knowledge, for it to be powerful, has to be implemented. Working under time constraints gives his work a sense of urgency and importance because he understands that his work serves his goals. Putting time constraints on his goals means incentivizing his time. Further, your child will begin to produce high-grade work; no more mediocre products. No more “just-getting-by.” With me, your son will develop skills and a focus of mind that he does not get in large, tax-funded classrooms.
All of the students I tutor have blogs. With me it’s mandatory. The blog houses your son’s work. The projects on his blog become his portfolio that he presents to project managers or employment prospects. He’ll need proof of his skills: blogs achieve this. Blogs will force the student to learn some web design. It will serve as a calling card for his writing ability and project completion. It is public . . . very public. Embrace this. Knowing that his work is public pushes him to refine his online products and pursue his best.
Your child will have to discipline his focus during the 2 hours. There is no way around this. No student in my sessions will be allowed to flit away time. Sessions are driven by very specific goals under strict time limits. This will be measured and reported to you.
CHARACTERIZATION
Colleagues and students have characterized me as helpful, hardworking, knowledgeable, reliable, and dedicated. I’ll leave that assessment to you and your family.
YOUR SON’S SOCIAL CAPITAL
But what about your son’s social capital? Your child will have spent 12 years in the school system. He’s worked hard. He’s sacrificed. He’s produced beyond expectations. You’ve invested in his future. His reputation will be built on how well others trust him to behave and perform. For that lesson, give this a listen:
BENEFITS & PROOF
Benefit #1: You’re getting 20 years experience and knowledge of teaching English. I am a fully-credentialed, California high-school English teacher and a private tutor who’s served bright students from 7 years old to learned men of 55. I know classic literature, its meaning, and historical contexts.
Benefit #2: I know the territory. I know the public school curriculum, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Benefit #3: With me as your son’s tutor you are getting over 20 years of test-taking strategies on the SAT, the ACT, Periodic Assessment, and others. I know test-taking strategies that result in higher scores.
Benefit #4: Higher grade, higher GPA, increased reading speed and improved comprehension. See how my efforts increased reading comprehension here, here, here, and here.
Benefit #5: Your child will get skilled, experienced help with writing essays, reports, and reviews, including help with homework in English, math, history, and science.
Benefit #6: Your child will learn productive study habits that will transform his learning results, his performance in school, and his GPA.
Benefit #7: With you and your child, we will set goals to get him on track and develop productive work habits. We set time-constrained goals and schedule hours that commit to greater productivity.
MEASURABLE PROOF
My instruction helped raise API scores on average 26 points in 2005, 25 points in 2007, 44 points in 2008, and 37 points in 2010. Verification of those results can be seen in the links above. I will help your child with his schoolwork and projects. With me, he will also learn how to streamline the college process so that he can save money and he will learn marketing and business skills that will position himself well after high school.
PROOF FROM THE PARENTS . . .
I contacted . . . [and] let her know. Both of us think you are [a] good teacher. You teach seriously [and] patiently . . . my boys’ English and their homework.
Regarding SAT Exams, “Mike, you know more about this than I do.”
You are a good teacher. Honestly. I am pleased with your class.
PROOF FROM HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS . . .
Jessica, a graduating senior from Los Angeles, said “I like [your] writing.” (Update: Jessica graduated from high school and is now enrolled in a law enforcement training program, studying to be a police officer.)
Joanne, a student from Santa Ana, said “Mr. Mike expects me to do my best.” (Update: Joanne graduated from high school, then from UC Irvine, and is currently teaching in Los Angeles County.)
Nate, a student from Pasadena, said “The things that I like about Mr. Mike is he is a nice person. Mr. Mike wants to make us successful. I can feel I learn much more English because I don’t talk to Americans in my class, but here (in tutoring) I can talk to Mr. Mike and it makes my English getting better.” (Update: Nathan is currently the marketing and accounting manager of his family’s retail business.)
“Mike is a very good tutor who helps me on my English and history and science homework. He gives me weekly exercises on grammar and Greek and Latin roots. He leads me in reading and allows me to read until I get tired. So far I have read 3 books—Shane, The Silver Chair, and My Antonia. I have learned a lot from each book. Sincerely, Joseph.” (Update: Prior to my meeting him, Joseph finished his first high-school semester with a C+ average. With my guided instruction, Joseph finished his second semester with an A- GPA.)
ON EDITING SERVICES . . .
A graduate student from Idaho wrote,
Great turn-around time.
A medical student from Imperial County, CA noted that
I learn more from your writing than I do from my tutor or teachers.
ON RESUME WRITING SERVICES
A Physician’s Assistant thought I should know that
My English friends really like [the resume you wrote for me]. Thank U.
Call 951-407-7517 today and ask for Mike to schedule two productive hours that work toward mastery of a writing assignment, a speech, or academic exam.
San Gabriel Tutor 