Melvin Delgado

I was born and raised in Santa Clara, attended Wilcox High School, and received my bachelors’ in math from Hunter College in New York City. I went on to earn a teaching credential through San Jose State, and I’ve taught in public, private, charter, and international schools. I’ve taught students a wide variety of math topics ranging from adding fractions with like denominators to implicitly differentiating equations. What I enjoy most about teaching mathematics is getting people to their own “aha” moment when a skill that they were having trouble with suddenly becomes understood.

Math is a subject that I enjoy teaching and my students know it. As a student once wrote about me, “I have never met a teacher who knows so much about math and finds it so fun.” I use my enthusiasm to hook students into lessons and inspire them to struggle through problems they find challenging. Students know they can depend on me to commit all my energy to supporting them in succeeding in a subject that I love.

I have taught at a variety of schools with a college prep focus and learned to support a wide range of students to achieve success. In working with English learners and traditionally under-served populations, I have learned to scaffold instruction and build and leverage strong relationships to support students in meeting their goals. In teaching gifted students, I’ve gained experience creating inquiry-based lessons to engage and challenge students. I also have extensive practice designing Common Core-aligned curricula and assessments (both formative and summative), independently and in collaboration with colleagues.

After ten years of experience in the classroom, I decided to spend a few years working with students one-on-one. Tutoring both allows me to spend more time with my two kids and gives me the chance to still help students get the most out of their education.

Working as a tutor, I find it best to learn as much as I can about my student and both what their goals are for each session and what they want to achieve over the long-term. I rely heavily on my teaching experience to set high expectations for each session and to provide each student the tools they need for success. For students who have trouble staying organized, I pull out “the checklist” and help them understand that the first step in keeping their things in order is to keep their thoughts and time in order. For students who just do not want to grind through a lot of problems, I challenge them to do more complex and sophisticated problems that are fewer in number.

In my free time I enjoy strategy games, hiking, and running around with my two kids.