What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe that teaching is more than simply depositing knowledge into the memory banks of eager students. Instead, I see teaching as the thoughtful facilitation of the learning process. As a high school teacher, I strive to create an environment in which learning can happen through questions, problem solving, and inquiry rather than through rote memorization.

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

In a typical first session with a student, I strive to build trust and rapport through a sharing of stories. I also try to acquire a sense of the student's abilities and interests, as this information will help me to personalize my interactions with the student.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Through the provision of learning scaffolds (graphic organizers, guiding questions, modeling, etc.), I create a dynamic in which students utilize supports early on, and then develop their abilities in such a way that allows them to remove the supports at a pace appropriate for them.

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

When it comes to improving reading comprehension, I believe in teaching explicit reading strategies as well as providing the student with different methods of retaining information. These methods may include taking annotations, completing graphic organizers, and practicing re-telling what was read to someone who is not familiar with the text.

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

Building trust is essential to any teaching and learning relationship. The student needs to know that I can be trusted and vice versa. This will create a productive relationship characterized by mutual trust and shared investment in learning.

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

I find that relevance is important for building buy-in and excitement for a particular subject. In my lessons, I always strive to make the content relevant to the student's lived experience.

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

In teaching, I employ both formative and summative assessments to get a sense of how students are doing with a particular concept. Formative assessments are more informal and can be as simple as a conversation with the student or a "warm-up" question before diving into the session's material. Summative assessments are more formal ways of diagnosing a student's progress and will often resemble traditional tests, projects, or writing assignments that one might find in a more structured learning environment.

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

To build a student's confidence in a subject, I design ways for the student to activate prior learning that may be relevant as well as to demonstrate progress, no matter how small. As a facilitator of learning, I am also conscious of employing praise and constructive criticism in targeted and meaningful ways.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

I evaluate student's needs through the use of different diagnostic tools. These include informal conversations with students, practice problems, and pre- and post- assessments.

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

Teaching is all about adaptation. As a high school teacher, I am trained to "differentiate," or adapt, my instruction given a certain student's skills, needs, and interests. This means that I may teach the same concept in different ways. For example, I may modify assignments based on a student's ability level or past experience with a given subject.

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

I like to work primarily with the materials with which the student is already working. These materials will often include class notes, textbooks, and assignments. In addition, I will sometimes incorporate materials that I have used in my classroom or have used for my own independent learning.