I have been an Electrical Engineer, programmer, and independent consultant for over 50 years. Now partially retired, I have tutored in the Cambridge, MA school system for 5 years. My goal in tutoring is to help the student reach the "ah-ha" moment, the instant when it all clicks and, finally, at last, a hodge-podge of separate pieces click into a beautiful picture.

During tutoring sessions, I work harder than the students. No only am I concentrating on the problem we are working on,...