What is your teaching philosophy?

My teaching philosophy starts with this quote: "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."- Albert Einstein. I try to customize my teaching to the student because different students learn in different ways. I do think that practice is important, and I try to prepare problems for my students to do to make sure they are getting the material.

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

In my first session, I try to gauge what kind of learner the student is. I ask them whether they tend to do better on multiple choice exams or free-response as that will help to guide my methods. For example, I do much better on free response questions, so I try to focus on practicing multiple choice questions to get a feel for how to tackle the problem. My brother, on the other hand, struggles with free-response, so he works on making sure that he truly understands the topic at hand.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I can help by giving the student the tools and encouragement to follow through. I have open access, and I encourage students to ask questions for the only stupid question is questioning whether you should ask the question because you think it is a stupid question.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I try to provide real-life examples (e.g., for one client, I used calculating a weighted GPA average as an example to figure out atomic weight) and just be encouraging.

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

I approach the skill from all different angles until I find the angle that clicks.

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

Find them more opportunities to read and get practice. Or read with the student.

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

I find it most helpful to find a student's baseline and then use that approach in tutoring.

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

Find them real-world examples to show them they will, in fact, use this in real life.

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

Giving lots and lots of practice.

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

Start out with easy practice questions and only increase the difficulty once they have a long history of getting it right.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

By what the student and the parents say and by asking them questions.

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

I will change methods (like drawing things out if they need to be drawn). I try to use different methods for different subjects and different people.

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

I make my lesson plans on my iPad using Notability, and I grade homework on it too. I also use pen and paper to work out math and science problems. Additionally, I try to incorporate the student's own study material.