What is your teaching philosophy?

The essence of teaching is presenting material in a way an individual student can relate to. I especially like to use real world illustrations and analogies pertinent to the subject matter.

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

Get to know how they learn best and worst, what they want learn better, and what they enjoy in and out of school.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Teach them ways to think about problems instead of just guiding towards answers

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Instill self-confidence, and encourage the idea that success is attainable.

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

Try a different approach to the problem.

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

Work with them to identify certain aspects of the passage (theme, idea, opinion, etc.) while they are reading the first time, so that they can use these tools for every passage they read.

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

I like to find out about the student's likes and dislikes, as well as hobbies and activities. All this information provides clues about the best ways to relate to a student. No one enjoys being taught to, but perhaps transforming learning into a collaborative effort makes it more palatable. It's hard to do that if you don't know the student.

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

Closed loop communication is one way to quickly gauge understanding. Here, I give some sort of direction, and the student would have to tell me what it was that I said, followed by applying the direction. Besides this, I also like to encourage students to phrase material in their own words or even to pretend that I am someone they are trying to teach. If you can teach a concept, then are able to understand it.

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

I encourage them when they do well in the subject. I lift them up when they stumble in a subject and offer them ways to improve. It's important for students to not only know material but also to be convinced of it. The combination of knowing and believing something is a very powerful confidence builder.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

I start by asking them what they have trouble with. In medicine, we often say that the patient will tell you what's wrong with them as long as you ask them the appropriate questions and listen to what they have to say. I think this certainly applies to students. Beyond asking, it's also important to pay attention to how students react to the material. That way you can detect problems that the student may not even be aware of.