Alexander
Certified Tutor
I take an active interest in who I am helping. Most tutors, like teachers, provide the information - the knowledge - without a concern for if the student is inspired to learn it. I ask more questions of the student than I give the knowledge he/she needs. I do not have a general method for tutoring, it is always on an individual basis for who I am working with at the time. What makes me a great tutor, is the passion I have to see the look on someone's face when they get themselves to the point of understanding a problem. I simply help them get there.
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Undergraduate Degree: Oklahoma City Community College - Associates, Pre-engineering
- ACT English: 31
My interests/hobbies include: reading and writing screenplays, admiring the relationship between perceptual reality and the mathematical fabric of time and space, looking at puppies, cardiovascular exercise, tree-climbing, mountain-climbing, cardiovascular exercise, socializing, climbing, and public speaking
- 10th Grade Math
- 10th Grade Writing
- 11th Grade Math
- 11th Grade Writing
- 12th Grade Math
- 12th Grade Writing
- Algebra
- Algebra 2
- Algebra 3/4
- AP Calculus AB
- Arithmetic
- Calculus
- College Algebra
- Differential Equations
- Environmental Science
- High School English
- High School Writing
- Math
- Middle School Math
- Pre-Algebra
- Pre-Calculus
- Statistics
- Writing
What is your teaching philosophy?
I ask questions. I ask conceptual questions to my students with the intention that they realize the answer on their own. Learning is intrinsic, and I'm not here to teach. I am here to help those who want to learn.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
The first session is all about learning for me. I have to understand how her/his mind works to be able to successfully guide the student towards understanding his/her topic.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
Motivation. This is the only way to inspire someone to learn independently. I motivate students by giving them the unparalleled gratification of finding the right answer on their own, only acting as a guide.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
I answered this in the previous question.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
I will support him/her until he/she learns the concept. Learning is difficult; I relate to that, and I may share a story of my own struggles with studying. I will reinforce that the hard concepts take time and effort, but nothing is impossible to understand.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
I don't correct them, not at first. I ask them what they think an excerpt meant to them. I ask more specific questions, and I instruct them on questions to ask themselves throughout the reading.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
My most successful strategy is becoming friends with the student and just being real with them. That establishes the necessary trust that most instructors neglect.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
I would think of things about the subject that would excite the student. Everybody's different, so I may need to use humor, or a scientific example, or a natural example -- it just has to be relatable to them to invoke emotions.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Repetition of questions. Ensuring the student is being honest in their understanding, and not trying to rush through the material.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
By helping the student find the correct answers and the correct manners of thinking, on his or her own.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
Psychoanalysis.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
I am always adapting my tutoring to the student's needs.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
Pencil and paper.