My teaching philosophy begins and ends with respect for the student. I believe that each student can find an authentic interest and use for what they are studying It is important to build on levels of understanding and competence. Students learn by doing.

I chat with the student at the beginning of the first session. I aim to learn what the student wants to learn and how he or she has approached the material so far. We look at some of the content that the student is working with and identify some strengths, questions, and areas to work on. Homework may be assigned to reinforce what the student has learned in the session.

Vygotsky's zone of proximal development is an important concept here. This refers to the difference between what a student can do with help as compared to what a student can do without help. One of my strategies to help students to become more independent as learners is to show them how to discover what they can do by themselves.

Most students will stay motivated when they are in pursuit of understanding and proficiency. It is important to them to experience and appreciate their accomplishments. They are extremely significant, even if they seem relatively small at first.

A few things that are important are to be patient and empathetic, and to find the causes of the difficulty. It is important to demonstrate the acquisition of the skill or concept. I use holistic approaches as well as special attention, repetition and alternate approaches to the problem areas. Confidence must be cultivated.

There are a number of reasons why students struggle with reading comprehension. I have worked with students to improve their reading comprehension in both English and Spanish. It is okay to read slowly. I may on work on high frequency words or phonics or ask frequent important comprehension questions to work on their processing skills and habits. Group work can help.

An important strategy when I start to work with a student Is to have him or her show me what they most like to do or study. This does not initially have to be related to the subject of the tutoring. I can gradually help the student make those connections.

When students are struggling with a subject, it could be that they don't know how to begin or have had a bad experience that they associate with it. I model how I am excited and engaged with the subject and invite them to begin working with me on it. That way the student is part of successful engagement with the subject rather than seeing the subject as something fearsome or foreign.

Formal and informal formative assessments.

One way is to have them teach the subject to another person (or me). The student realizes how much they know when they can do that.

To me, a student's needs are what he needs to be able to do or know in order to achieve his or her goals. This can be evaluated through observation and conversation.

In many ways. The plan is always for the student to be able to do more and more his or herself.

Paper, pencils or pens, markers, marker boards, cell phones, computers.