Josef
Certified Tutor
Undergraduate Degree: Harvard University - Bachelors, Psychology
Football, Filmmaking, Writing, Scuba Diving
Adult ESL/ELL
Advertising
Aerospace Engineering
African-American History
American Literature
Analytical Chemistry
AP Computer Science Principles
AP Music Theory
AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Applied Mathematics
Arrangement and Composition
Art
Astrophysics
Audio Engineering
Biomechanics
British Literature
Business
Business Enterprise
Cell Biology
Clinical Psychiatry
Clinical Psychology
College Accounting
College Application Essays
College Biology
College Chemistry
College Economics
College English
College Geography
College Level American Literature
College Math
College Physics
Comparative Literature
COMPASS Mathematics
COMPASS Reading
COMPASS Writing Skills
Computational Problem Solving
Computer Theory
Conversational Spanish
Cosmology
Cost Analysis
Developmental Biology
Digital Media
Elementary School Math
Ethics
Evidence
Evolutionary Biology
Expository Writing
Fiction Writing
GED Math
GED Reasoning Through Language Arts
GED Science
GED Social Studies
Handwriting
High School English
High School World History
High School Writing
Human Development
Human Resources
International Business
Introduction to Fiction
Law
Management
Marine Biology
Marketing
Molecular Biology
Molecular Genetics
Music
Music Recording
Music Theory
Neurobiology
Neuroscience
Non-Euclidean Geometry
Nuclear Chemistry
Other
Parallel Computing
Philosophical Ethics
Photography
Plant Biology
Poetry
Probability
Quantitative Reasoning
Quantum Computing
Quantum Mechanics
Quantum Physics
Quantum Theory
Robotics
SAT Subject Test in Mathematics Level 1
SAT Subject Test in Spanish with Listening
SAT Subject Test in World History
SAT Subject Tests Prep
Social Sciences
Spanish 1
Special & General Relativity
String Theory
Study Skills
Study Skills and Organization
Technology and Coding
Thermochemistry
US Constitutional History
Voice
World Civilization
World History
World Literature
What is your teaching philosophy?
Every student has his or her own preferred method of learning. As a teacher, I recognize that I have as much to learn from my students as they have to learn from me. By learning about my students' respectively preferred method(s) of learning, I'm able to teach each student more effectively and ensure greater long-term student retention of subject material.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Get to know the student and his or her preferred method(s) of learning, as well as gauge his or her academic strength(s) and weakness(es).
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
By helping each student discover the methodology by which he or she learns best. Should a student already know which methodology works for him or her, I can help that student become an independent learner by teaching him or her to be critical of the sources from which he or she independently learns.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
By reminding the student of his or her short- and long-term academic goals, as well as the progressive goals that the student and I would have already collaboratively established and agreed upon during our introductory session.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Try a different didactic approach. In other words, change the teaching style in order to change the learning results. There are multifarious teaching styles, and great teachers can employ most, if not all, of them. Which teaching style applies to which teaching scenario ultimately depends specifically on the context of the individual student on a case-by-case basis.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
Have the struggling student(s) specifically practice reading a passage of his or her own choosing aloud to me as if the struggling student(s) were giving a venture capital fund-raising oral presentation directly to his or her role model. Next, I would have the struggling student(s) paraphrase the passage in his or her own words. The combination of rhetoric with reading actually tends to render the otherwise humdrum subject of reading comprehension bearable for student comprehension, and implicitly invites each struggling student to find his or her own voice as a human being.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Be CTF. In other words, be: 1. Communicative 2. Trusting 3. Forgiving/Understanding. If a student starts to slip, this overarching CTF strategy serves as a stop-gap to ensure that the student doesn't spiral too far before the lapse is noted and addressed, which ultimately leads to long-term success in meeting each student's individual academic goals.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Directly relate the subject in which the student may be struggling to a topic or extracurricular activity in which the student is excelling. The more one knows about a given student, the more efficaciously one may engage that student by relating directly to his or her personal and extracurricular interests.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
I firmly believe that a student has truly learned something when he or she can teach it. Thus, to be sure that a student understands the material, I would first test him or her on the material in a measurable way and, upon passing said test satisfactorily, I would then have the student teach the material back to me in his or her own words.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Start small/simple and build a firm foundation from there. Often, 1:1 direct comparisons/contrasts work best, as human beings tend to learn best through contrast-based analysis via one or more of the five senses. Once the foundation is laid, implement a "build-break-build" mentality from thereon. The "break" in between builds is designed to serve as a challenging test of knowledge between subsequent "builds" of the student's educational foundation.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
Ask the student directly. The overarching CTF strategy works both ways. If a teacher is able to earn a student's trust by demonstrating genuine compassion for his or her needs, then the student will be exponentially more open about his or her true needs (a.k.a. shortcomings). It can be tough to admit to one's own shortcoming(s), because such an admission of weakness demonstrates vulnerability, which, in turn, requires trust on both sides in order to come to light. Gaining a given student's trust is thus the didactic key to gaining a clear glimpse at that student's true academic needs, and ultimately addressing those needs.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
I would adapt my tutoring to the individual student's needs by implementing the "build-break-build" (a.k.a. the "build-measure-learn") feedback loop early and often in both a transparent and measurable way, so as to hold each student personally accountable for his or her own performance while independently and simultaneously tracking the student's progress myself.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
No tutoring session is typical, just like no two tutoring sessions are the same. That's what I love about tutoring! Lexicon aside, during most tutoring sessions, I usually use books, the Internet, various visual aids, pictures, PowerPoint presentations, and, last but certainly not least, music.