derivink Being built

Micah · tutor

One shared page for math and physics tutoring

Derivink is a website Micah is building for his own tutoring, from high school geometry through college math and physics. During a session, the student and Micah write on the same page at the same time while they talk on Google Meet. Every page is kept in the student's own notebook, so nothing from a session gets lost.

See the timeline
  • Not open to students yet
  • Invite only
  • Students 13 and older
Simple pendulum· Physics notebook
A pendulum worked out on a shared page The tutor wrote the period of a simple pendulum, T equals 2 pi times the square root of L over g. The student, whose cursor is on the page, wrote L equals 0.50 meters, so T is about 1.42 seconds. The tutor added a units check: the square root of meters over meters per second squared is seconds. θ L T = 2π L g L = 0.50 m ⟹ T ≈ 1.42 s units: m m/s² = s ✓ Alex
An example page with made-up work. Your own pen shows on your screen at once, even on a slow connection.

Updates

A short note each week on how the build is going.

Latest

Accounts and privacy are nearly finished

The second step is nearly finished. What's left is the rest of the export and the checks that close the step.

Built since the last note

  • Live pages on the new accounts. Each person sees only what they may see, and an open page updates within seconds when someone's access changes.
  • Saved copies of every page, with 30 days of history.
  • Phone pages. On a phone, every page shows read-only, as a picture that refreshes by itself after a change.
  • View as. Micah can open a folder, notebook or page exactly as a student or guardian sees it.
  • The one-time demo link, and a student's request to hide a page from guardians or from AI.
  • More privacy and safety: the first parts of an encrypted export Micah can save to his own computer, a fuller site status page, and security alerts that tell Micah about unusual activity.
  • Steadier drawing. The board takes one input at a time, so a resting hand or a second finger doesn't draw.

What's next

  • Finishing accounts and privacy: the rest of the encrypted export Micah can save to his own computer.
  • This step's full checks: the final checks (security, permissions and accessibility) that close the phase, now under way.
  • Then the whiteboard itself (Phase 2a): pens, shapes and frames, and documents both people can write on live.

So far the site is tested only with made-up test accounts, and no student uses it yet. Every change to the site passes automated tests in three browsers and a set of security scans before it is accepted.

Earlier updates

  1. The live page test was finished, and much of accounts and privacy was built.
  2. This page went live at derivink.com.

What it is

A live, shared whiteboard made for the way math and physics are taught, with a notebook for every course.

Write together, live

The student and the tutor write, type and draw on the same page at the same moment, with Google Meet open in another tab for voice and video.

Every session is kept

Pages are saved to a notebook for each course, in order, so the work from any session is there to look back on before a test.

Tools for math and physics

Typed equations, graphing, step-by-step tools, practice with hints one at a time, physics simulations and a circuit lab, all on the page.

One-on-one or small groups

Sessions for one student or a group of up to 6. In a group, each student can work on their own, and Micah chooses what to show everyone.

Why it exists

Math and physics are learned by working them out, one line at a time.

Most online tutoring happens on a general meeting app or a plain whiteboard. Derivink is shaped around how these subjects are taught: writing a derivation out step by step, checking the units, graphing the result, and coming back to the same work weeks later.

The goal is simple. Every session should leave the student with clear notes they can find again, practice that comes before the answers, and a better grasp of why each step works.

For now, Derivink is only Micah's own tutoring tool. It is not a company, and there are no sign-ups.

Timeline

A rough plan, not a promise of dates. Each step starts only after the one before it passes its own checks, and everything is tested with made-up test accounts before any student uses the site.

  1. The live page test

    Phase 0Done

    The core of the site, built and tested: one shared page with live pen ink, cursors, saving, and picking up again after a dropped connection.

  2. Accounts and privacy

    Phase 1Now

    Invite-only sign-in, accounts for tutor, student and guardian, consent screens, folders and notebooks, and the full welcome page that will replace this one.

    Built so far
    • Sign-in with Google or an emailed link (no passwords), plus an authenticator app for tutor and admin accounts
    • Invites, joining, consent screens for students and guardians, and the pages where Micah manages them, including requests to join
    • Folders, notebooks and pages, with who can see each one, whether AI may use it, and a student's request to hide a page from guardians or from AI
    • Live pages that use the new sign-in and accounts, showing each person only what they may see, and that update within seconds when someone's access changes
    • The one-time demo link
    • Saved copies of every page with 30 days of history
    • A read-only view as a student or guardian, so Micah can check exactly what each one sees
    • Read-only phone pages, which show a page as a picture and refresh by themselves after a change
    • The welcome page that will replace this one, with its request form and waitlist
    • Most of Micah's admin pages, including a site status page
    • The sign-in, invite and alert emails, and automatic deletion of records the site no longer needs, such as expired invites and old requests
    • Security alerts that tell Micah about unusual activity, and a way to sign an account out on every device
    Still to come
    • The rest of the encrypted export Micah can save to his own computer
    • The final checks (security, permissions and accessibility) that close the phase, now under way

  3. The whiteboard and live sessions

    Phases 2a and 2b

    Pens, shapes and frames, PDFs you can write on, following the tutor's view, group work with each student on their own, and recording with everyone's consent.

  4. Math and science tools

    Phases 3 to 4c

    Typed math and answer checking, step-by-step tools, graphing in 2D and 3D, physics simulations, a code runner, and a circuit lab.

  5. AI help, always reviewed

    Phases 5 and 6

    Optional AI help on Micah's own computer, such as turning handwriting into typed math and drafting session notes. Micah reviews every item first, and each one shows how it was made.

  6. Between sessions

    Phases 7 and 8

    A table of contents and a map of how ideas connect, search, homework and practice with hints, spaced review, calendars, and session summaries for guardians.

  7. Polish and the readiness check

    Phases 9 and R

    An accessibility pass over every screen, then a 4-hour nonstop session test with dropped connections, and the launch checks.

  8. Security tests before students

    Before students

    Two full attempts to break in, one by someone who can read the code and one by an outsider with only the site's address, on test accounts and made-up data. Every problem they find is fixed, and the tests run again until no serious problem is left. Only then does Micah decide to invite students.

  9. First students

    Phases 10 to 12

    Real one-on-one sessions first, then a full real week of tutoring, then group sessions.

  10. Later

    After launch

    A video call built into the site, with Google Meet kept as a backup, and short walkthrough clips of a problem with Micah's voice. Each new feature is tested before students get it.

Already working with Micah? Nothing changes for now. Sessions carry on as they are until the site is ready, and Micah will tell you before anything moves over.