Alexander: River Forest tutor
Certified Tutor
My teaching and tutoring philosophy is geared towards helping students achieve academic success. Tutoring to me means helping students acquire the skills needed to successfully and consistently pass exams.
There is an important difference between reading subject material (which can often be boring), and studying subject content (which is much more likely to be dynamic). I acquired my medical diploma while residing in a foreign country, studying in a foreign language, and because of that I could not learn the material simply by reading textbooks. Instead, I learned to study in a focused, dynamic manner that allowed me to succeed both academically and professionally.
I currently enjoy surfing, sailing, and other outdoor activities.
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Undergraduate Degree: Instituto Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud - Bachelors, Medicine
Graduate Degree: Instituto Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud - PHD, Medicine
Traveling, Surfing, Sailing, Outdoor Activites
- Anatomy
- Anatomy & Physiology
- Biology
- College Biology
- Conversational Spanish
- High School Biology
- Languages
- Microbiology
- Physiology
- Science
- Spanish
- Spanish 1
- Spanish 2
- Spanish 3
- Spanish 4
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
Each student's needs are different. I approach each student with the intention of helping them examine, evaluate, and devise an action plan for their success.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
Materials which should be specific to the subject, and materials given to the student by his/her school. This keeps the student focused and helps him/her to stay focused on acquiring their goals.
What is your teaching philosophy?
Learn, do, teach.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Listen to the student explain his/her difficulties in their own words, help that student evaluate their needs, and assist him/her in creating an action plan to acquire success.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
Reading subject material is boring and time consuming. Studying subject content is focused, goal-oriented, and efficient.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
Mt. Everest wasn't climbed in one day. Small steps make large mountains small.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Inquire into the student's conceptual understanding, as it could be a simple misunderstanding, or just a lack of practice.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
The most successful and wealthiest persons in the world read on average sixty books per year. Loving to read is the easiest treatment for reading comprehension. Any other attempt at reading comprehension is a quick fix to pass a test: fake it until you make it.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Confidence is a sign of success. Students are excited about subjects they are successful in. Finding student's weaknesses in a material, and assisting them in understanding the material successfully, will create excitement.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Learn, do, teach. If a student understands a material, then a student can teach it.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Confidence is a measure of success. Success stems from accomplishment. Accomplishment comes from practice.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
Listen to student's own evaluation of their needs, probe their knowledge base, and formulate an action plan for success that they understand and can follow.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Engagement. If a student isn't engaged, they are not learning. If a student isn't engaged, it is because they feel that the instructor does not understand their needs.