What is your teaching philosophy?

Find your voice and remain creative.

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

Introduce ourselves and get to know each other.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

By helping the student grow his/her knowledge base and instilling confidence.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

By celebrating success and finding ways to improve.

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

Reimagine the skill or concept and approach it from a different angle.

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

Break the piece into sections and review the most pertinent info in each section. Many students try to remember everything as opposed to employing strategy.

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

Getting to know the student foremost. Also, understanding his or her strengths is essential to developing his or her weaknesses.

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

By making learning a playful competition. I'd test the student's knowledge, and if the student correctly answered "x" number of questions out of "y," he or she wins.

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

I'd produce test-level practice questions and talk through why each answer is or isn't correct. I'd also employ verbal quizzing.

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

Repetition, encouragement, and fun.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

By observation and asking the student directly.

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

I take time in each session to build their strengths and in turn their confidence--before addressing the not-so-strengths and working to improve them.

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

Laptop, pen, and paper.