Cambridge Massachusetts
Who We Are
Based in Cambridge Massachusetts, we are a growing network of educators.
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Tutors
Tess is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Computational Science at Dartmouth. For over ten years she has taught students in reading and writing, mathematics, coding (natural language processing and data analysis, primarily with Python and R), and has helped children and parents with standardized test preparation (SAT), college selection, and college admissions. Tess recently completed a PhD in English Literature at Harvard. She also earned an M.St. in literature at Oxford and a BA in Philosophy at Yale. She is currently working on a research-driven book about viral media. Some of her favorite things in the world are ice cream, running, and the beach. Tess loves bringing together the humanities and STEM: her undergraduate work in analytic philosophy has helped her think like a computer scientist; her work with natural language processing has helped her rediscover novels that she loves.
Tess has also seen, firsthand, how the pressures that today's students face—particularly in the college admissions process, and then at elite universities—can cause anxiety, stress, and a diminished sense of self. Her aim as a teacher is to help students find meaning, value, and purpose in the work and play that they do whilst navigating the pressures and challenges of today's pre-collegiate education system.
David Alsdorf (tutor & founder) is a teacher, education researcher, artist and designer of games and educational materials. He also serves as Elementary Math Program manager for Cambridge School Volunteers. As a K-9 humanities and robotics teacher, curriculum designer, and ethnographer, he has worked in many public, private and international schools, particularly with students of exceptional intelligence. David’s graduate work analyzed how children, with varying degrees of familiarity with a Montessori apparatus (the trinomial cube), speak - and speak differently - about the object, its properties, and utility. He has been privileged to study play-based pedagogies with Ben Mardell and maker-centered learning with Brian Gravel, and to have worked on several projects funded by the LEGO Foundation, through Tufts CEEO and Harvard’s Project Zero. David studied Religion at Reed College and Early Childhood Education at Lesley GSE.
Tess is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Computational Science at Dartmouth. For over ten years she has taught students in reading and writing, mathematics, coding (natural language processing and data analysis, primarily with Python and R), and has helped children and parents with standardized test preparation (SAT), college selection, and college admissions. Tess recently completed a PhD in English Literature at Harvard. She also earned an M.St. in literature at Oxford and a BA in Philosophy at Yale. She is currently working on a research-driven book about viral media. Some of her favorite things in the world are ice cream, running, and the beach. Tess loves bringing together the humanities and STEM: her undergraduate work in analytic philosophy has helped her think like a computer scientist; her work with natural language processing has helped her rediscover novels that she loves.
Tess has also seen, firsthand, how the pressures that today's students face—particularly in the college admissions process, and then at elite universities—can cause anxiety, stress, and a diminished sense of self. Her aim as a teacher is to help students find meaning, value, and purpose in the work and play that they do whilst navigating the pressures and challenges of today's pre-collegiate education system.
David Alsdorf (tutor & founder) is a teacher, education researcher, artist and designer of games and educational materials. He also serves as Elementary Math Program manager for Cambridge School Volunteers. As a K-9 humanities and robotics teacher, curriculum designer, and ethnographer, he has worked in many public, private and international schools, particularly with students of exceptional intelligence. David’s graduate work analyzed how children, with varying degrees of familiarity with a Montessori apparatus (the trinomial cube), speak - and speak differently - about the object, its properties, and utility. He has been privileged to study play-based pedagogies with Ben Mardell and maker-centered learning with Brian Gravel, and to have worked on several projects funded by the LEGO Foundation, through Tufts CEEO and Harvard’s Project Zero. David studied Religion at Reed College and Early Childhood Education at Lesley GSE.
Advisory Board
Yusuf Ahmad is VP of New Products at Teach for America, the largest education nonprofit in the United States, where he heads the New Product Studio. He also advises companies through Samba and coaches startups through MIT’s Sandbox Fund. Previously, Yusuf has contributed to Scratch, developed creative education tools in new media, led degree products for a pan-African higher education startup with over $80 million in funding, and worked with the South African government and Qatar Foundation on ambitious education projects. Yusuf earned his undergraduate degree at Columbia University and his Master’s at MIT Media Lab, where he was positioned in the Lifelong Kindergarten Group.
Eric Bowman is Chief Technical Officer for TomTom. A US National based in Berlin, Eric was the principal architect for the worldwide rollout of 3G and a contributor to the first edition of the Sims. He graduated Reed College with a degree in Physics.
Rebecca B. Miller is the Associate Director for Curriculum Design & Assessment in the Teaching and Learning Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), where she leads initiatives related to the design, development, and assessment of new courses and curricula. She is also a Lecturer on Education at HGSE. Her professional and research interests center on curriculum and instruction in higher education, with a particular focus on efforts to promote inclusion and identity development via foundational or general curricula in STEM fields and in the field of education. Becca received her Ed.D. in Education Policy, Leadership, and Instructional Practice and her Ed.M. in Specialized Studies from HGSE. She received her A.B. in Molecular Biology from Princeton University.
Yusuf Ahmad is VP of New Products at Teach for America, the largest education nonprofit in the United States, where he heads the New Product Studio. He also advises companies through Samba and coaches startups through MIT’s Sandbox Fund. Previously, Yusuf has contributed to Scratch, developed creative education tools in new media, led degree products for a pan-African higher education startup with over $80 million in funding, and worked with the South African government and Qatar Foundation on ambitious education projects. Yusuf earned his undergraduate degree at Columbia University and his Master’s at MIT Media Lab, where he was positioned in the Lifelong Kindergarten Group.
Eric Bowman is Chief Technical Officer for TomTom. A US National based in Berlin, Eric was the principal architect for the worldwide rollout of 3G and a contributor to the first edition of the Sims. He graduated Reed College with a degree in Physics.
Rebecca B. Miller is the Associate Director for Curriculum Design & Assessment in the Teaching and Learning Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), where she leads initiatives related to the design, development, and assessment of new courses and curricula. She is also a Lecturer on Education at HGSE. Her professional and research interests center on curriculum and instruction in higher education, with a particular focus on efforts to promote inclusion and identity development via foundational or general curricula in STEM fields and in the field of education. Becca received her Ed.D. in Education Policy, Leadership, and Instructional Practice and her Ed.M. in Specialized Studies from HGSE. She received her A.B. in Molecular Biology from Princeton University.