Alyssa
Certified Tutor
Undergraduate Degree: Indiana University-Bloomington - Current Undergrad, Biology, General
I love drawing and art in general and have actually started to learn how to make ceramics recently. I also enjoy going to the Humane Society and will begin volunteering with the Middle Way House this winter.
AP English Language and Composition
College English
Comparative Literature
High School English
ISEE Prep
Spanish 1
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
I would get to know a student and ask him/her what his/her ultimate goals are going forward.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
I would praise a student whenever he/she made progress and remind him/her of how far his/her learning has come.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
I would go back to the root of the question and determine what exactly it is asking. I would also utilize different resources such as visual cues and rewording a problem to help the student understand.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
I look for context clues with the student and go over topic sentences, main ideas, and purposes of readings/excerpts.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
I have found it most successful to actively cater my teaching style to what helps the student best. It is important to hear direct feedback from the student.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
I would remind him/her of progress that has been made and explain to the student why that particular subject is important.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
I use hands-on approaches as well as outside resources/problems.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
I provide challenging questions so that students feel that they can do even difficult questions in a subject well.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
I ask a student specifically what he/she is struggling in and what kind of resources he/she would like me to provide.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
I utilize different types of problems based on strengths and weaknesses of the student.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
I use worksheets/problems from reputable online sources as well as hands-on paper and pencil types of problems that I can work with the student on.
What is your teaching philosophy?
I think it is very important to cater to individual student needs. I also believe it is vital to determine what helps a student learn most; for example, visual cues, rewording problems, and other methods. Furthermore, it is important to take feedback from the student and engage the student in the problem solving process.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
A student can become an independent learner by working through problems with me first, and then using steps and methods that he/she finds most useful to solve problems alone.