Updates to teaching style
(MARCH 2022) My teaching style is always progressive and flexible in an effort to best match the needs of my students. In the time that has passed since I made my introduction video above, there have been a couple of changes to my teaching style:
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My Education
✓ BS Physics from Brandeis University ✓ BS Mathematics from Brandeis University ✓ Magna Cum Laude recognition, GPA 3.9 My work Experience
✓ Professional Teacher since 2014 ✓ Wellesley High School · '14-'16 ✓ Boston Leadership Institute · '17-'18 ✓ Shulman & Hill LLC · '17 ✓ Self-employed tutoring · '15-now MORE
✓ Highly experienced teacher and tutor (since 2014). ✓ Highly experienced with online instruction (since summer 2019). ✓ Highly enthusiastic about teaching YOU! 
Ready to make the change you've always dreamed of?
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About Me
Hello! My name is Trevor Kafka, and I am an online teacher of physics and mathematics. I am highly enthusiastic about all topics that I teach and have extensive experience teaching all levels, all the way from middle school math through college-level math and physics, and beyond. I also teach AP, SAT, ACT, and other school admissions exams, including the notoriously difficult AP Physics C exam. I am a graduate of Brandeis University holding a double major in physics and mathematics and worked as a lead instructor at Wellesley High School for two years. Since 2014, I have been teaching group and 1-on-1 physics and math classes extensively.
Whether you are looking for help in your current class, looking to prepare for an upcoming exam, or want to improve your skills out of personal interest, I am confident that I will be able to provide you with lessons with me can be engaging, effective, and invaluable. I look forward to working with you soon!
Client Reviews
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Trevor Kafka has helped build confidence in my son's math skills. Trevor is very patient and supportive. He is able to explain difficult concepts easily and concisely. I had concerns of tutoring over Zoom being cold and impersonal and was pleasantly surprised. Trevor was able to understand my son's needs and engage and encourage him . I highly recommend Trevor. |
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Before beginning work with Trevor, my son was struggling to grasp the key content knowledge from his high school physics class and his grades were lower than we had liked. Trevor took a wide variety of difficult concepts and made them easy for my son to understand, which had positive effects on his coursework and overall understanding this year. My son enjoyed the sessions and found him approachable. As a parent, I found Trevor very responsive and highly organized: two characteristics I appreciate as a working mother of teenagers. |
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Our 8yo son started working with Trevor in September 2020 for Chinese and Math tutoring. Trevor is extremely well organized and his positive and motivating communication style has helped our son make amazing progress in both subjects. In just a couple short months he mastered over 50 Chinese characters and could carry on a brief conversation. In math, he works above grade level and has built his confidence and logical thinking as a result of these lessons. Trevor's use of technology in the virtual classes is brilliant, greatly enhancing the learning. The homework assignments are interesting and stimulating for our son. We highly recommend Trevor for Chinese and math tutoring and we are considering hiring him for physics tutoring when our son is ready. We feel really fortunate to have found Trevor, our son has benefited a great deal from these classes! |
Frequently Asked Questions
what platformS do you use for your online classes?
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Zoom is my preferred internet communication tool for my tutoring sessions. As of December 2021, 1-on-1 and group classes are all hosted over Zoom.
After registering for a tutoring session with me, you will receive a class reminder email with a Zoom link for class 36 hours in advance of your appointment start time. |
Do you assign homework?
Yes, I most certainly can and am happy to! Homework assignments are available by request. They are generally not provided by default but under most circumstances are offered free of charge.
Students are often very busy, so additional tutor-assigned homework is not always appropriate, but if it would be helpful to have homework assignments from me given to you for time outside of class, please let me know, and I can provide this to you for no extra charge (as long as the amount of time it takes me to construct and review the assignments is within reason).
For regular students who elect to have assignments, I often set up Google Classroom pages to organize class materials, including notes and homework assignments.
Students are often very busy, so additional tutor-assigned homework is not always appropriate, but if it would be helpful to have homework assignments from me given to you for time outside of class, please let me know, and I can provide this to you for no extra charge (as long as the amount of time it takes me to construct and review the assignments is within reason).
For regular students who elect to have assignments, I often set up Google Classroom pages to organize class materials, including notes and homework assignments.
What is your cancellation policy?
- No payment is due for any cancellations made 24 or more hours in advance of the class start time.
- Full payment will be due for cancellations made less than 24 hours in advance of the class start time.
Exceptions to this policy may be made on a case-by-case basis, usually under circumstances where late schedule changes do not pose an inconvenience.
The fundamental intent of these policies is so that I can ensure a reliable work schedule and work-life balance, not to create "gotcha" situations for clients. I try to be as reasonable as possible in consideration of the factors surrounding any late cancellation.
What makes you qualified to teach?
- Magna cum laude from Brandeis University with 3.9 GPA, double major in physics and mathematics.
- Former full time physics teacher at Wellesley High School for 9th and 12th grades.
- Former at-home tutor for Shulman & Hill LLC.
- Summer course instructor for Physics Edge at the Boston Leadership Institute.
- Consistent at-home tutoring experience for physics, math, and standardized exams since 2014 with students of a variety of ages and levels. I do have references available--please get in touch for information as these change when I work with new clients!
- Perfect scores on AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism, and SAT Physics Subject test during high school years.
What content do you teach?
- Middle School mathematics
- SAT math
- SAT Subject Tests: Physics, Math I, and Math II
- ACT math, ACT science
- High School 9th Grade Introductory Physics
- High School 12th Grade Physics (including all AP exams)
- College-level first-year physics
- Geometry (high school)
- Algebra I + II (high school)
- Analysis (high school)
- Precalculus (high school, college level)
- Trigonometry (high school)
- Calculus (high school, AP, college level, including multivariable)
- Statistics (high school, AP)
- Linear Algebra (high school, college level)
- Mathematical proofs / discrete mathematics (college level)
- English as a Second Language (ESL)
- Introductory Mandarin Chinese (both simplified and traditional characters)
Do you have references?
Yes! However, references change often in order to stay most up to date, so please email me directly at tutor@trevorkafka.com for my current references.
HOW DO I PAY YOU?
Payments are made online via credit card through the same portal that class registrations are made. As of August 2021, there is no internet convenience fee for online payments. The amount you see on your bill is the amount you pay.
Please note that unfortunately I do not accept digital payment outside of my website due to the complexity it poses, but my website does provide options for saving your credit card information for future payments and/or enrollment in automatic payments for your convenience.
Bills are automatically generated at the end of each month for classes taken in that month and emailed out to clients. Bills are due within 7 days of receipt.
Class rates vary depending on time of year, my availability, instructional content, and the financial situation of each family and/or student. Under most circumstances, rates remain locked-in on a per-family basis. Please get in touch directly by scheduling an intro call or by email to discuss class rates.
Please note that unfortunately I do not accept digital payment outside of my website due to the complexity it poses, but my website does provide options for saving your credit card information for future payments and/or enrollment in automatic payments for your convenience.
Bills are automatically generated at the end of each month for classes taken in that month and emailed out to clients. Bills are due within 7 days of receipt.
Class rates vary depending on time of year, my availability, instructional content, and the financial situation of each family and/or student. Under most circumstances, rates remain locked-in on a per-family basis. Please get in touch directly by scheduling an intro call or by email to discuss class rates.
What are your math classes like?
For math classes, I often take advantage of screensharing on Zoom along with on-screen pen annotation as a virtual whiteboard through Microsoft OneNote.
All class notes are shared with students at the end of each class and are available for reference after class. Homework assignments are available by request. In most cases, this is delivered in a PDF format in a shared Google Drive folder.
For advanced students who are looking to learn mathematical typesetting, I also use a collaborative documents on Mathcha.io in order to teach math content and mathematical typesetting in an integrated format.
- Some students find it beneficial to send me current class worksheets or content in advance. I can then display these on my screen and can annotate them.
- I can also freehand provide instruction on particular topics or content virtually using OneNote and screensharing similar to using a regular whiteboard.
- Some students need help completing online quizzes or homework assignments. In such cases, students can screenshare content from their own computer and I can annotate directly via the Zoom whiteboard feature, which appears overlayed on their own screen.
- I also integrate content and practice problems from textbooks and relevant websites by using screenshot clippings that I can paste directly into our class notes.
- For students covering content aided by graphical presentation, I also often use Desmos to create visuals and animations describing the relationships between variables within a function.
- For students using TI calculators (TI-83+, TI-84, etc.), I also use a digital version of these calculators and can provide instruction on their primary functions through screensharing. These calculators are permitted on standardized exams such as the SAT, ACT, and AP exams.
All class notes are shared with students at the end of each class and are available for reference after class. Homework assignments are available by request. In most cases, this is delivered in a PDF format in a shared Google Drive folder.
For advanced students who are looking to learn mathematical typesetting, I also use a collaborative documents on Mathcha.io in order to teach math content and mathematical typesetting in an integrated format.
What are your physics classes like?
(information coming soon! in the meantime, please check out my video at the top of the page.)
What are your SAT/ACT/AP test prep classes like?
(information coming soon! in the meantime, please check out my video at the top of the page.)
WHAT ARE YOUR MANDARIN CHINESE CLASSES LIKE? 你的中文课怎么样？你的中文課怎麼樣？
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Mandarin Chinese classes with me are engaging and fun for youth and adult learners alike. My instruction emphasizes practice and learning of new vocabulary / grammar through slide presentations, listen-and-repeat exercises, as well as question and answer exercises. I can also provide direct instruction on how to write and type Chinese characters (simplified and traditional) as well as can assign homework at your request. We will use the pīnyīn romanization system to help guide our studies and I can provide instruction at the HSK1-HSK3 levels.
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跟我一起学中文对孩子和成人来说既有趣又好玩。 在我课程里我用PPT、重复练习以及问答练习来学习生词和语法。 我还可以直接指导怎么手写汉字、用电脑打字（简体和繁体），而且可以根据你的要求布置作业。 我们将使用汉语拼音系统来帮助你学习，我可以提供汉语水平考试一级、二级和三级的内容。
跟我一起學中文對孩子和成人來說既有趣又好玩。在我課程裡我用PPT、重複練習以及問答練習來學習生詞和語法。我還可以直接指導怎麼手寫漢字、用電腦打字（簡體和繁體），而且可以根據你的要求佈置作業。我們將使用漢語拼音系統來幫助你學習，我可以提供漢語水平考試一級、二級和三級的內容。
跟我一起學中文對孩子和成人來說既有趣又好玩。在我課程裡我用PPT、重複練習以及問答練習來學習生詞和語法。我還可以直接指導怎麼手寫漢字、用電腦打字（簡體和繁體），而且可以根據你的要求佈置作業。我們將使用漢語拼音系統來幫助你學習，我可以提供漢語水平考試一級、二級和三級的內容。
WHAT ARE YOUR ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE CLASSES LIKE?
I teach English as a Second Language at international class rates through a platform called italki when time in my schedule allows (generally over the summer).
You can view more information and sign up for classes on my italki profile. I can provide instruction for English by using English, Mandarin Chinese, and/or Spanish.
Due to the international nature of these sorts of classes and the complexity of international currency conversion, time zone coordination, and international law, I currently only accept bookings for English as a Second Language classes through italki.
You can view more information and sign up for classes on my italki profile. I can provide instruction for English by using English, Mandarin Chinese, and/or Spanish.
Due to the international nature of these sorts of classes and the complexity of international currency conversion, time zone coordination, and international law, I currently only accept bookings for English as a Second Language classes through italki.
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I'm interested! What do I do now?
Please begin by scheduling a free 20-minute introductory video call with me so that we can touch base about your current situation and how I can best help you. If you'd like to skip the 20-minute introductory call, it is also possible to directly schedule your first session by emailing me at tutor@trevorkafka.com. |
Ready to make the change you've always dreamed of?
