Samuel Grunebaum

Samuel is an approachable and reassuring tutor who helps students of all levels, backgrounds, ages, and interests as they navigate the ever-changing landscape of Computer Science, mathematics, logic, and writing. Since graduating from Williams College in 2019 with a degree in Computer Science and Comparative Literature (Spanish language), Samuel has taught hundreds of students across multiple continents, first as a Fulbright grantee at the University of Málaga in Spain and then as a Computer Science teacher at the Horace Mann School in New York. He has since transitioned to a full-time career as a freelance tutor, curriculum consultant, and web designer/developer. His unique combination of experience as a Computer Scientist, Spanish language literature scholar, and professional educator helped mold him into a multi-faceted tutor with expertise in STEM subjects as well as the humanities. While Computer Science and associated topics are his specialty, Samuel is adept at tutoring essay writing, all levels of Spanish, and middle/high school mathematics.

Samuel’s broad experience teaching at the high school and college levels as an elder Gen Z-er makes him an ideal tutor for the modern student – Samuel started his classroom teaching career in the fall of 2020 and has taught almost as much on Zoom as he has in-person. He feels blessed to have chosen fields that lend themselves particularly well to online instruction and prides himself on his ability to facilitate hands-on learning and create a warm, supportive environment, even across time-zones.

Whether coaching middle and high-school students through ambitious personal programming projects, guiding applicants through essays and interview prep, or helping undergraduate students tackle challenging labs and exams, Samuel always meets his students where they are. He aims to instill not only mastery of the material but also personal confidence, passion for the process and, as much as possible, joy in learning. Each session starts with a brief check-in on how the student is feeling about the material, as well as what specific questions and goals they have for the session. However, Samuel’s work as a tutor starts well before the Zoom call begins: he will spend the days before a session carefully reviewing his student’s syllabus and recent classwork. Samuel asks that these materials be sent at least two days before the first session, so that he can use them to plan their individualized tutoring program.

Samuel believes that learning is more a marathon than a sprint, and that his job is just as much about fostering efficient, sustainable study habits as it is about teaching programming or essay writing. He makes sure that his students leave every session with at least a couple wins or ‘eureka moments’ and emphasizes the life-changing opportunities that a strong foundation in writing, programming, Spanish, or math can generate in the future, even if the student has no plans to continue with the subject beyond that semester. When teaching Computer Science, Samuel prioritizes teaching the fundamentals in addition to specific programming languages and always encourages his students to think outside the boxes of Python, Java, or whichever language they are using. He uses these deeper underlying concepts to reveal the magic that is modern computation. In writing code or college essays, Samuel encourages his students to verbalize their thought process and the concrete goals they are seeking to accomplish. He makes an effort to get to know his students and their interests, and reframes their work in a way that is meaningful and relevant to each student’s personal goals. Whether guiding a student through the logic of solving a complex mathematical proof or helping a student discover and refine their own literary voice through rigorous, out-loud editing, Samuel’s individualized tutoring process ensures that each student has the bespoke program they need to learn and absorb core fundamental concepts along with the technical details relevant to the subject matter.

Through his individualized teaching practice, Samuel has helped his students create amazing things; from video games to design portfolio websites to user experience research projects. Samuel coaches and guides his students to take ownership of the creative process so that they can feel proud of the end product and know that it is the result of their consistent hard work. He strongly believes that learning never happens in a vacuum and encourages his students to think critically about the ways they can apply their new skills to help make the world a better place. Samuel uses these critical conversations as a way to identify and work towards the specific tangible goals his students are striving to reach through their education. Samuel’s students have gone on to publish research as undergraduates at Ivy League universities, earn competitive international scholarships, master a new language or two (whether Spanish, English, or Python/Java/C++), build impressive software portfolios, land lucrative jobs, and feel the confidence to write, speak, lead, and create at the very best of their abilities.

While Samuel has devoted his teaching career primarily to Computer Science and related math subjects, his academic background is as widely varied as the students he has taught. He has studied statistics & data analysis, design theory & human computer interaction, linear algebra, multivariable calculus, linguistics, post-colonial theory, and comparative literature. Samuel began tutoring when he was still in high school himself, worked as a TA throughout college, and spent multiple summers as a youth leadership program leader, including co-leading a Spanish immersion YMCA exchange program in Uruguay. In addition to tutoring all things Comp Sci, Samuel delights in diving into geometry, formal logic, Algebra 1 & 2, discrete mathematics, Spanish reading & writing, and all forms of essay writing. He has worked with students ranging from middle schoolers tackling algebra and history essays for the first time to college undergraduates preparing for final projects, papers, and exams. Whether teaching coding, math, writing, or Spanish, Samuel’s teaching philosophy is all about individualized instruction, emphasis on core concepts, instilling sustainable, effective study habits, and nurturing confidence and delight in learning.

Outside of his teaching practice, Samuel is a designer and web developer with a rapidly growing portfolio. He has led web design and development processes for multiple e-Commerce brands, optimized and implemented new interfaces for the Internet Archive’s Open Library, and currently works as a freelance curriculum consultant with TeachCS when he is not tutoring. In his free time, Samuel loves to read Dante, Kafka, and Chekhov, listens to most-if-not-all genres of music, plays jazz on his 40 year-old Fender Rhodes electric piano, hones his design practice, ponders pedagogy, and struggles to find the perfect combination of toppings for the freshly tossed dough he buys from his local pizzeria in Bushwick, Brooklyn.