What is your teaching philosophy?

I like to break down any materials to the smallest levels I can for students to grasp the inner workings of problems, not just the final answers. In addition, I like to include examples, diagrams, and anything else I can to illustrate how a particular concept works.

What might you do in a typical first session with a student?

In a first session, I will try to get to know the student, and make sure the student knows me. In addition to figuring out how the student's work is presented and organized, I like to figure out how the student learns, whether it be by practice, through examples, through explanations, or any other method. I will frequently stop many times in the first session to see if the student has questions (relating directly to the work or not) and if they understand everything; I prefer to get the student feeling like they can always stop me and ask any questions that they may have in the future.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

A student needs to be able to know how a problem or subject works from the ground up, not just the answers. If the student can start piecing together new types of problems themselves, it will greatly help how they learn.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Keeping a student involved and active is perhaps the best way to keep them motivated and trying, although they must also know that they can work the problems, and can ask you for help whenever they need. To do this it is best to work practice problems and solve questions alongside the student, asking them questions as you work, and keeping you both involved.

If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?

I think illustrations, analogies and examples work best when a student has a hard time grasping something immediately; breaking the problem into relatable concepts helps the student truly internalize what the problem is.