Francis: Palos Heights tutor
Certified Tutor
I am a native French speaker. I am fluent in speaking, reading, and writing French. It's an honor to share my knowledge with others, and to make it possible to break the language barrier that a student may have. I am an honest, trustworthy person who is passionate about what I do. I am meticulous and sometimes a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to teaching French. I love cooking, reading good books, traveling the world, and, yes, playing soccer. I have over 20 years of experience teaching and tutoring French to non-speakers. I helped many government officials to pass the rigorous Foreign Service Institute test and I am proud of it. I look forward to the challenging task of helping others reach their full language potential and become part of the global village that the world has become.
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What is your teaching philosophy?
My philosophy is to never give up on a task (in this case, learning French), no matter how difficult it may be, accept challenges in life, and become a better person
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Get to know them, find out their learning styles, motivate them to work hard, and set up goals to reach in the near or not so near future.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
The key is to show him/her how to study independently, using the enormous tools available online, and make good use of other materials at their disposal such as books, audio recordings, and videos. And never become discouraged when there is a setback.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
I would develop a curriculum that is within their level of comprehension, and I'd assign them tasks to do on a daily basis.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
I will go over the skill or concept with the student more than once. I will attempt to present the concept in a different way and make it meaningful to them. Also, I will try another skill or teaching method.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
By encouraging them not to dwell on each word in a text, but to attempt to get the big picture of the topic, and by focusing on the key elements at the beginning of the text - its middle portion and the end of it.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Engaging teaching is definitely a good idea, where the student is hands-on; I stay away from the traditional method of lecturing to the student. In addition, I try to find out what their strengths are and focus on them, more than their weaknesses.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
They need to see the practical value of the subject they are learning; proper commendation when an effort is made, along with breaking down the subject to them (chunking), has proven to be helpful
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
At the end of each paragraph, I will have them give me the gist of the paragraph, have them summarize the main points of the subject by trying to use their own words, and help them when they make mistakes by writing them on a notebook and addressing them at the end of their delivery.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
The way to do that is to build upon their acquired knowledge, show them how it connects to the current topic, and present the meaningful value of it.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
Being a good listener when they speak, giving them assignments and figuring out where their needs are, and coming up with a constructive approach to address their needs.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
Each student is different and learns differently. I tailor my tutoring skills based on the needs of each student. A good tutor has more than one tool at his disposal, and needs to use them accordingly.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
I use the material provided by the school, and use technology currently available to enhance the study session. Depending on the subject being discussed, I have them being hands-on, as some students are kinesthetic learners.