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

After an initial free consultation to discuss the student's needs, first session agendas may change. During a first session with an LSAT student, I'll generally give the student a crash course in either formal logic or common logical fallacies. From there, our sessions will generally focus on troubleshooting the student's unique needs. For English or ESL students, our first session will generally focus on perfecting a writing sample that the student already has. From there, we will focus on problem areas.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I'm a strong believer in the idea that tutors exist to render themselves obsolete! If I am doing my job, you will eventually no longer need me. To foster these ideas of independence and to reduce costs to the student, I generally leave students each week with study plans that they should complete before the next session. As they become more comfortable, their study plans may become more self-determined and our meetings less frequent.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I help students stay motivated with positive reinforcement and, when necessary, a touch of tough love. Each student responds to different kinds of motivation- this is a discussion I like to have with students at the beginning of our sessions. For students who respond best to consistent positive reinforcement and reminders of progress, I will use those methods! For students who respond best when their tutor holds them accountable, I'll do my best to be firm about deadlines and schedules.

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

If a student is struggling to learn a new concept, my approach to that concept will need to change to suit their needs. For LSAT students, I frequently teach new ways of approaching the same problems through diagrams, mapping, or linguistic approaches. Eventually, we'll find a way that sticks!

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

Asking a student about his or her learning style is the most important topic of conversation for forming a new tutor/student relationship. I need to know whether the person I am working with is a visual learner or is someone who prefers to learn by doing! No matter what the style, I am able to adjust my approach.

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

I am fortunate enough that for all of the subjects I tutor, I have attained a degree or am well on my way to attaining a degree. This means that I can help engage students with the material by reminding them of the paths that this field of study can create for them! Reminding the student that their hard work now will pay off with opportunity later is always great motivation!

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

During my sessions with a student, I will teach them methods for answering questions or attacking problems. When we complete problems together, I'll either ask them to walk me through the answer without any input from me, or I'll purposefully make a mistake in my analysis and ask them to correct my mistake. This ensures that my students are both engaged in the session and that they comprehend the material.

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

I have a significant amount of experience working in the subjects I tutor. Because of this experience, I am able to tell students that their experiences are well within the range of normal students who have also been successful, and even the strongest of my students have had setbacks!

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

This is subject-dependent. For the LSAT, I will generally review a diagnostic exam with the student and pinpoint the types of questions they've consistently missed. For English or ESL tutoring, I prefer to review a writing sample produced in another context and determine what mistakes the student is making regularly.

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

At the end of each session, I ask the student how they felt about the session we just completed. Often, they'll tell me that they feel more confident about some aspects of the material but less confident about others. We wrap up each session with a discussion of our goals for addressing the concerns they have and how we might achieve those goals. This often involves changes to the format or material covered in each class.

What is your teaching philosophy?

I like to think of tutoring as collaborative learning- I am here to help an already talented student work on improving their skills. Students, in turn, teach me how to become a better teacher.

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

Generally speaking, students who struggle with reading comprehension need some assistance in test taking strategy. I will generally approach low reading comprehension scores on standardized tests by reviewing these strategies.