What is your teaching philosophy?

Thoroughness. If a student ever is struggling to understand a concept, I ask that they let me know immediately so that we can address it. Many courses require building blocks of knowledge to solve the more difficult problems, so I want to ensure that all of those blocks are accounted for.

What might you do in a typical first session with a student?

I introduce myself and let them know my teaching philosophy. I tell my students to never hesitate to ask questions and let me know immediately if they would like me to change my teaching style (faster, slower, pictures, examples, etc.). I discuss their previous work in the class and ask them about upcoming assignments and tests that we can prepare for. Then, we usually delve into homework problems or test question corrections/notes.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I focus on process rather than product; I do not care so much whether or not the student gets the "correct" answer for a certain problem, but rather, I would like to see that the student understands the steps and concepts behind achieving the correct answer. As long as that is fulfilled, finding the correct answer will be inevitable and all other problems of that variety will be solvable for the student.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

One good way to stay motivated is to look up subject applications. It is easy for students to think "I'll never use this in my life," but in many cases that turns out to be incorrect. Subjects like math and English are used every day by most people in even the most mundane of ways such as going grocery shopping. By figuring out subject applications, it seems more useful, and students can see the value in the material as opposed to looking at it as just another process to memorize.

If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?

I perform a root cause analysis to determine where I need to reinforce with more knowledge. This usually is a building block that the student did not learn previously or perhaps just a formula that needs memorization (I teach mostly math), so I address the problem methodically until we reach the point where there is a knowledge gap. Once it is filled in, we do more examples to ensure that the student understands the methodology.