Tim
Certified Tutor
Undergraduate Degree: Johns Hopkins University - Bachelor in Arts, International Studies
ACT Composite: 32
ACT English: 35
ACT Math: 33
ACT Reading: 34
SAT Composite (1600 scale): 1510
SAT Math: 730
SAT Verbal: 730
SAT Writing: 730
Basketball, music, and film.
AP Chinese Language and Culture
College English
Conversational Mandarin
High School English
Mandarin Chinese 1
Mandarin Chinese 3
Mandarin Chinese 4
SAT Subject Test in Chinese with Listening
SAT Subject Test in Literature
SAT Subject Tests Prep
What is your teaching philosophy?
Empathy, humor and organic motivation is the key to learning. My tutoring sessions can be as laid back and as serious as you'd like, but I can guarantee that you'll be having a good time.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Get to know what the student likes to do in their free time and gauge the level of their skills. It's important to me to tailor my curriculum and learning materials to every student's needs.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
By showing them examples of leaders they look up to and relating independent learning to their success.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
Set realistic short term goals and idealistic long term goals with them. That way, you combine short term satisfaction of a completed task with a desire to accomplish their more far-off ambitions.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Go through the problem with them step-by-step. Then ask them to do another similar problem and see where they're struggling. Diagnose the problem, repeat and redo.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
Break down the passage to paragraphs, paragraphs to sentences and sentences to singular words. Reading comprehension is not just about the content, but also the flow/feel of the text.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Make jokes, talk about their friends, and poke fun at myself.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Empathize and explain that I once hated the subject too. Tell them how I came around and how important it is to my life now.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Mini tests of basic progress. Use the goals that we set in the beginning.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Practice, practice, practice until they're comfortable teaching the material back to me or one of their classmates.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
Ask them what their biggest weaknesses are and add to them as I observe.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
Adjust based on age and past experience. Be nice and always flexible.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
Online materials, their own textbooks, personal experiences and more.