What is your teaching philosophy?

My tutoring philosophy is to give students the skills and tools they need to understand and learn without telling them how to do everything. I teach students to practice to perfection, which involves re-doing problems until they get it right the first time. This demonstrates complete understanding. My tutoring style is characterized by patience, and I'm very attentive, making sure they are truly understanding when I ask the question, "does that make sense?"

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

In a typical first session with a student, I would first give them a round of questions or problems to do on their own to gauge where to start with them and what they need help with. Once I determine the problem areas, I would start by teaching a lesson and help their understanding by going through practice problems with them.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I help students become independent learners by giving them a process to follow that they can always follow to succeed. This process involves practice, self-testing, checking their answers, addressing the problems they got wrong, and re-doing those problems until they completely understand. With this process, any student can become an independent learner.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I help students stay motivated by being encouraging. I make sure they know when they're doing a good job and track their successes so that they can see their improvement and want to keep improving more.

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

Explain the skill or concept in as many different ways as I find helpful until they tell me they understand it. Once they understand, I will test them using practice problems to make sure that they have grasped the concept.

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

If a student is struggling with reading comprehension, I will read the passage with them and go through each following question to show them the process of finding and choosing the right answer. I teach students how to go back to the text to find the best answer to the questions that they are asked.

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

The strategy that I have found to be most successful when I start to work with a student is to make sure I understand what page they are on and where to begin. Then, I find it helpful to teach a lesson and give practice problems.

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

I try to make tutoring as fun as possible. To do this, I will reward hard work with work that is more "fun." For example, if I'm tutoring math, I'll let the student know I have a fun math puzzle to do at the end if they finish all the practice problems to keep them engaged and excited.

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

To be sure that a student understands the material, I will test them and test them again. I make sure I pay attention to how they are working through a problem so that I can correct them when they go wrong. Once I think they understand, I will let them do a harder problem completely on their own. If they get it right, I will know that they understand.

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

I build a student's confidence in a subject by praising them when they are doing hard work and getting questions right. I make sure that they can see and feel that they are making progress.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

I evaluate a student's needs by initially giving them a general assessment to find the areas where they need help. I continue to give such assessments so I can keep identifying and covering problem areas to address the student's needs.

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

I have realized that different tutoring styles work for different students, and as a tutor, I have learned to follow the style that works best for each student. Some work better by working alone and asking me only when they need help, and others need me every step of the way. I make sure I know which style works best for a student and go with it.

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

During a tutoring session, I usually use practice workbooks to pull problems from and lessons that I have written up in different subjects.