What is your teaching philosophy?

Personalization. Tailor each session to the particular student's strengths, weaknesses, and learning style.

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

Find a way to build a relationship of mutual trust and respect, so that the student is more likely to engage in the lessons going forward.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Teach them different ways of approaching problems. Critical thinking over memorization.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Different people are motivated in different ways. Goal-setting and humor seem to be effective techniques in most cases.

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

With a younger student, I would break down the problem(skill or concept) into smaller steps to pinpoint the source of the confusion. With an older student, it is better to subtly nudge him or her in the right direction. A balance between a tutor's guidance and a student's struggle to solve a problem on his or her own results is the most concrete and lasting learning.

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

Getting to know each student's goals and motivation is crucial to getting the most out of each session.

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

Show them applications of the material that they can relate to.

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

Have the student explain the concepts to me in his or her own words, and then solve or write an example.

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

First break down a subject area together--carefully explaining the methods to solving a problem. Then have the student solve a slightly different problem on his or her own.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

Thoughtful communication with the student (and his or her parents) is crucial to teasing out the student's needs.

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

A more focused student might respond better to more autonomy, whereas the less focused student might need more micro management.

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

Practice problems. Yellow legal pad. Dry erase board (if available).

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

Practice makes perfect. Ask them to define tricky words. Ask them to identify the thesis and explain the argument.