What is your teaching philosophy?

My teaching philosophy is that lessons should be both structured and fun. Without an equal balance of the two, optimal learning can not be facilitated.

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

In a typical first session, depending on the subject matter, I try to understand the student's wants, needs, and motivations for taking lessons with me. If they are taking these lessons for an academic class, grades will be the focus. If they are taking this class to improve oral or written fluency, that will be the focus. My first lesson will involve pinpointing areas of difficulty and relating that to the motivation for wanting to take lessons with me.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Helping a student become an independent learner starts from the classroom. It starts by letting students figure out certain ideas by themselves instead of you simply explaining the ideas to them.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I will help a student stay motivated by providing them with engaging lessons and fun materials to complete outside of the scheduled lesson.

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

If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, I will take note of it and devote a large portion of a future lesson to this concept.

How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?

I help students who are struggling with reading comprehension by reading through passages together, and by taking note of words or concepts they have difficulty with. I will then create situations for us to go over these concepts or words, enabling the student to figure them out on their own.

What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?

I find that beginning lessons with a friendly introduction and starting off with the more difficult aspects of the subject we are to cover earlier, rather than later, results in great success.

How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?

To help a student get excited or engaged in a subject that they are struggling in, I will look for activities that involve that subject that are relevant to the student's personal interests.

What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?

To ensure that students understand the material, I will employ concept questions at the end of each concept covered, as well as questions at the end of the lesson. If there is something the student is still not understanding, we will address it at the beginning of the next lesson.

How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?

A student's confidence is best built by providing adequate education. Confidence is solely a result of this.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

I evaluate a student's needs by testing them on the basics of the subject at the beginning of the lesson.

How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?

I adapt my lessons to student's needs based on their learning style, whether that be visual, auditory, tactile, etc. I use methodologies based on these learning styles. I also take the student's wants, needs, and motivations for taking lessons with me into account when preparing my lessons.

What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?

I use online materials generally, PDF worksheets, and (depending on the subject) copies of online books.