Sean
Certified Tutor
Undergraduate Degree: Eastern Michigan University - Bachelor of Science, Actuarial Science & Economics
Sports, Games, Philosophy, Business, Spending time with friends
Business
College Accounting
College Economics
High School Accounting
High School Economics
Macroeconomics
Other
Summer
What is your teaching philosophy?
Before going over the steps to get an answer, we must first fully identify the problem. This then creates a memorization pattern of question then answer that leads to another question then answer.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Get to know them academically and what their schedule typically looks like. This gives me a better understanding of who they are, how they learn, and how the course that we're preparing for will prepare them for their future.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
Provide practice questions or chapter/s to read that will be covered in their class at a future day. Then, during the next session, see how much of the chapter/s they covered on their own and learned about independently; see if they can grasp the material before going over full demonstrations of the material.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
Stay positive and keep moving forward. Show them how much they learned, and what they have left to do to fulfill their goal.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Go through other example problems/concepts that are similar, and show different methods of solving the problem until they find one that they can understand and retain.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
For comprehending word problems when not understood, I show the student how I reread the problem by starting with the question. Then, we go over how to identify what information we need to solve the problem, and identify what the given information is in the word problem.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Demonstrate and say my entire thought process to problems that they are struggling in. It not only shows how to solve the problem, but it also demonstrates how solutions aren't just memorized.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Show them how close they are to getting the answer, and how much they have accomplished.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Have them explain to me their thought process on understanding the material. Then, let them try another problem very similar on their own, where I give hints or reminders of what we did and how they understood it.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
I make bullet points (some mental, some I actually write down) on a student's needs and what objective meets that need.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
Textbook, notebook, and scratch paper. Depending on the class, we can use Internet research or PowerPoints to help begin our session.