Zach Wyner (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)
Zach is such a wonderful, skillful teacher! His students love him, and his deep knowledge of the subject matter, coupled with his patience and his love of teaching, make him one of the most effective teachers I know.
-Neal Wrightson, Director, Children’s Community School
Zach gave my son confidence that he had a voice and could express it in the written word. What a gift! It is impossible to convey all that Zach gave my son.
-Barbara Ramsey, M.S.W.
I want to bolster your child’s confidence. That’s the goal.
In my experience as both a classroom teacher and a writing coach, I have learned that, above all, success begins with confidence.
This confidence is a product of trial and error, of having the courage to ask questions and having those questions validated through feedback from a supportive and encouraging educator. Confidence is a product of our making connections between our personal experiences and the wide world and thinking critically about the society in which we live. Once students know how to ask questions, they can better develop, structure and express their ideas in writing.
During a lesson, students and I will work on collaboratively-crafted projects that challenge them to think critically and creatively and demonstrate to them exactly what they can accomplish when they write from information. When necessary, we will also develop organizational strategies, prep for upcoming exams, draft essays, and address questions that may have arisen in the classroom.
My approach
It’s difficult to predict the duration of a writing coach/student relationship, but whether a student seeks short-term help on a college-application essay, the development of a consistent writing practice, or a complete transformation of their relationship to writing, my approach remains essentially the same: I will arm them with strategies that will help make writing less daunting and show them how to be accountable for their own learning.
It’s demoralizing to look at a project and have no idea how to go about completing it. For many students, the path is so obscure they give up without trying and rely on parents or teachers for help. However, if we equip students with strategies to break writing down into a series of manageable steps, we can unburden them of unnecessary stress help them develop the kind of practice that produces confident and dynamic writers.
Becoming a writer
Your child and I will review homework assignments whenever there is a pressing need, but it is unlikely that this alone will bolster their enthusiasm toward writing. Rather than focus on schoolwork, we will work with a variety of forms such as personal essays, fictional stories, poetry and editorials with a goal of developing, submitting and publishing original works online. While nurturing a love of learning is the primary goal, we will also honor our hard work by putting it out into the world.
Student Work
Army Recruiting In Schools Needs To Stop
Scrawny to Strong: A High Schooler’s Tennis Journey
Changing Our Culture of Misogyny
Jorge Garcia Deportation A Re-Telling
Testimonials
Zach is one of those teachers that every parent wishes their kid could have. He has a love of learning, a kind, patient manner, lots of integrity and a genuine dedication to his students. I am so happy to have had him as one of the instructors on my team for ‘Take My Word For It!’.
-Sondra Hall, Director, “Take My Word For It” – Creative Writing for Kids
Zach is an amazing writing coach and human being! He is gentle, kind, calm, patient and extremely skilled at understanding children, connecting with them and knowing how to help them learn and grow! We have known Zach in many different capacities for many years and we could not recommend him more highly. He is currently coaching my oldest daughter and she not only loves meeting with Zach, but she has made incredible progress. He works collaboratively with kids, parents and teachers and goes out of his way to support children in their learning.
-Barbara Moura, PsyD
Zach Wyner has been incredible tutor and mentor for our son. From late elementary school though college, Zach has helped him organize his rapid-fire talk into clearly written prose. He's been there to keep our son keep up with writing required at school, and he's parachuted in for online tutoring when college term paper deadlines loomed. Going beyond school assignments, Zach coached him into writing reflective opinion pieces that were published in an online teen magazine. Their relationship is one of the deepest and most supportive connections in his life.
-Josh and Diane Wirtschafter
I cannot recommend Zach highly enough as a writing coach. All three of my kids have worked with him for weekly sessions since middle school, and he has already navigated my oldest two through their college admissions essays, helping them get into their dream schools of NYU, USC and UC Berkeley. My oldest started in middle school to help him express and get his thoughts onto paper more fluidly. What we saw over the years was powerful introspection that got him through some tough high school times (especially during pandemic), and was ultimately terrific preparation for college essays. Zach has provided a very safe space for addressing and processing their experiences into words and essays—all while strengthening their writing skills. I would be happy to provide a phone reference if you have any questions.
-H. Lee
Zach worked with our son from 4th grade through the college applications process. To say he was a writing coach would sell Zach short. Zach was certainly able to get our son to write better, but it was so much more than that. He got a shy boy to learn how to express himself openly and deeply. We were constantly surprised at the depth and complexity of the emotions and thoughts that our son was able to express in quite detailed and thoughtful terms, much more so than anything we saw in person until much later. Over the years we think that his sessions with Zach built a level of confidence and self-awareness that has served him well into his young adult years. We always joked that his writing sessions with Zach were really therapy sessions, but it was probably a fair description. Zach is able to really connect with kids in a meaningful way to explore big thoughts and to communicate their feelings about them. We can't recommend him highly enough!
-Peter Wong
I started with Zach as a student with a "B" average on English essays. I have since been published in youth magazines, received a distinction from the New York Times, and have started to consider a career in journalism and writing. Zach has exposed me to numerous new styles of writing and has provided me with a new means of expression. He's not only improved the content of my writing but he's also helped me find my own voice in my work.
-Luca Vicisano, 11th grade
Zach has been in our family’s lives for a decade and what a blessing he has been for my two boys. He started with my sons in elementary school and worked with them into high school. Both of my boys looked forward to their weekly one-on-one focused time with Zach. He engaged them. He challenged them. Dear relationships were formed. Zach mentored them and helped them formulate their ideas. Writing now comes easily for them. What a gift.
-Jean-Gabriel Bankier
I highly recommend Zach Wyner as a tutor. Zach has worked very successfully as an assistant teacher, writing instructor and substitute teacher at Park Day. Zach works collaboratively with teachers, students and parents to effectively hone in on where a student requires support. Zach also connects easily with students, helping them to feel comfortable with the task at hand and the challenges they are encountering.
-Karen Colaric, Lower School Coordinator, Park Day School
Prior to hiring Zach as a tutor for my daughter, writing assignments often made her freeze. She’d hesitate and second-guess herself. Within a few months of meeting once a week with Zach, I watched her confidence blossom. She’s now such a funny, descriptive, honest writer! And it’s amazing how her grammar and punctuation have really improved too.
-Rachel Sarah, author of Climate Champions: 15 Women Fighting For Your Future
My son is currently a junior in high school and has been working with Zach for over three years. The writing sessions initially started because my son needed guidance with his writing—conveying thoughts, style, creativity, structure, etc. However, through his heartfelt encouragement and support, Zach managed to ignite a spark for writing in my son. As such, my son has submitted some of his essays to Teen Ink, Writopia Lab, and NYT (to name a few), all thanks to Zach. My son continues to work on new essays and projects with Zach and looks forward to each session. Zach is a kind and generous writing coach and mentor whom we would highly recommend.
-Jo Ann Carter
My daughter started writing with Zach when she was in the fourth grade. She wasn’t particularly fond of writing then. She is now transformed. She has had classes with Zach every week for the past 3 years. She loves writing and asks to continue writing with Zach. She now considers herself a writer and writes stories for her own pleasure.
-Dr. Salomeh Keyhani
My 12-year old is doing well at school, but she loves working with Zach to refine her writing skills. I love the fact that she works very autonomously with him, and they figure out the areas to work on together, based on her specific needs and interests. A while back, I asked her which after-school activities we could stop to create a little bit more time in her schedule, and her work with Zach was the one she was most inclined to continue because she finds so much value in it.
-Denis de Graeve
Zach was the finest Assistant Teacher I’ve had in my class during my 20+ years of teaching. I’ve happily recommended his tutorial services to families and am always very pleased to hear that a child will be working with Zach.
-Bob Rollins, Park Day School
Zach really understands what I want to say and helps me say it. He has helped me become a much better storyteller.
-Ezra, 8th grade
My son started working with Zach when he was 8 and still homeschooling. I had tried to teach writing but failed miserably and feared he would never learn to write well. However, from the beginning, he loved Mr. Wyner’s class and also began to enjoy writing. I believe those lessons laid a solid foundation because my son writes beautifully now.
-Aynul Dean
Zach Wyner worked with my sons during their middle and high school years. He has a gift for developing and improving their writing skills while making it enjoyable. Through working with Zach, my boys found their voices and expressed themselves beautifully through writing.
-Lori Hendrickson
When anyone asked me about Zach, I always said that I wish I had him as my writing coach when I was young. My three children were lucky to have him.
-Aiai Winoto Crebbs
Zach has an intuitive, encouraging approach in his work with kids that allows them to feel at ease and open their minds. He is thoughtful and strategic in the way he works to further skills and thinking.
-Kris Lee, Park Day School
Zach had the unenviable role of tutoring our 18-year-old daughter during the summer immediately after high school graduation. During her scheduling-social-swirl, intellectually checked-out, packing-for-college phase of life, we forced her to work with Zach. We are indeed the worst parents ever. But ultimately Zach made it not-so-bad-after-all for our daughter to work on understanding how to take the jumbled up ideas in her head and put some logic and organization to it. A few years prior, our daughter was diagnosed with some learning disabilities, and although we worked on writing and organization throughout her high school years, it just didn’t “stick.” Writing was her vale of tears. Zach was able to help her with skills to organize ideas, validate her creativity and gain confidence needed to put pen to paper. It’s now been a month into her college life and the work that Zach did with our daughter seems to have stuck. She had an essay due last week and approached it without tears and with a spring in her step. Zach has the great combination of being good at what he does, getting kids to feel that they can do it too, and making it not feel like a big burden.
-Cindy Tsai Schultz