My teaching philosophy stems from a Jackie Robinson quote, "A life doesn't matter except for the impact it has on other lives." Teaching allows the educator to impact a myriad of different individuals' lives. A teacher should be willing to be patient, listen, be attentive, and meet the vastly different needs of each student they are assisting.

My objective with a first session with a student is to build a rapport and make them comfortable to ask me any question about the material that they may have been uncomfortable asking in a full classroom. No question is too simple, and I feel as though tutoring is a platform in which a student can be most comfortable asking questions and trying to understand the material the best way they can.

An important part of being an independent learner is to read outside of the classroom. I always suggest reading materials for a student in a subject they have shown interest in. I like to introduce fun facts or trivia about a subject they are studying to get them more intrigued in what they are learning, and hopefully that can be a hook into future independent learning.

I would try every approach to make them understand it further. The best way to address it usually is to show them visually, because many students are visual learners. This could include a comic book, movie, or tv show about the historical concept.

Image analysis is a good gateway into a student being able to read and comprehend primary and secondary sources. Modeling is then the best way to help the student start comprehending what they are reading. Literally showing them how you read and analyze the text is a great way to help students.

It is always a good approach to be friendly with the student and make them as comfortable as possible when first meeting the individual. Then it is good to start with an activity that they can excel easily at to build self-confidence and motivate them further since they have already gotten a level of achievement. Then I can adjust towards what their personal needs and learning levels may be.

The best way to get a student excited about a subject they are struggling with is to show them how it is relatable to them in any capacity.

I love to use "exit tickets" at the end of each lesson/session. The student is asked a question about comprehension of the material covered. This allows me to adjust my techniques for the next session/lesson and be able to understand what they are still unclear about.

Start the student off with questions they can personally relate to or don't need any background in history to answer, and then transition to something that relates exactly to what they are studying to build self-confidence.

Every student is different, and an instructor cannot instantly figure out what each student's needs are. A good measure of how to figure out what a student's needs may be is by issuing an exit ticket at the end of a lesson to see if it was effective, and then adjusting accordingly.