Meghan: Harrow tutor
Certified Tutor
It is my goal to create positive and meaningful experiences in both my professional and personal life. I believe that innovation along with integrity are fundamental to successful and inspirational work and learning spheres. Being a highly adaptive and self-motivated individual, I find effective and efficient solutions in any situation and am in constant motion toward actualizing the highest potential in myself and my clients.
I have a passion for knowledge and sharing information. I believe that true understanding is the key towards viable and sustainable societies. In my independent cultural studies, I have been interested in the modes through which knowledge is transmitted from person to person as well as systematically. This has served to shape my distinct approach towards teaching. It has also has led to my informed critique of the current educational paradigm, driving me to seek out novel and effective methods of learning and teaching via analysis, experimentation, and application. Private tutoring and integrative learning are practices that I believe can positively alter a student's learning experience as well as their perspective on a particular school of thought.
Connect with a tutor like Meghan
What is your teaching philosophy?
Experimentation Towards Holistic Understanding.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Removing the limitations of conventional teacher-student relationships by engaging the student in meaningful and relevant dialogue. This also allows me to prioritize students’ needs, and together set goals and intentions for tutoring sessions.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
Assigning meaning to the class as a step towards a larger goal. Positive reinforcement.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
Establishing mechanisms for self-motivation. Positive reinforcement. Drawing from students' passions and integrating already existent inspiration.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Approach the concept from different perspectives until the student is satisfied.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
Play on students’ strengths and assist in identifying patterns in text. Words paint pictures. We ascribe them meaning based on our personal experience - so take time to experience the words.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Make it relevant. Make it useful. Make it meaningful on a personal level.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Help the student dissolve their current concepts of limitation. Self-trust is key to success.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
I'm not into standardized test questions. I would make sure the student could apply what they have learned to a real situation they might encounter in their own lives.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
The student generally understands the areas where they are lacking - so I listen and plan sessions accordingly. When learning a language, I feel it is most important to be able to relay concepts effectively. Ideally, each session will reveal new strengths and new areas ready for improvement.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
This depends on how the student learns best. I may use visuals with one student and conversation with another. Each case is distinct and worthy of customization.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
I find that engaging in dialogue is the most effective strategy. It is the most important component of learning a language and offers an arena of experimentation with grammar and pronunciation.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
I make the content relevant and based on students' interests. And I use whatever teaching style is most effective (i.e. kinetic, visual, audio, etc.).