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

In the first tutoring session, I will get to know the student and establish the learning style and expectations. Together, the student and I will develop a plan to achieve learning goals.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I can help a student become an independent learner by teaching skills and strategies that can be used for future educational assignments.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I would determine what motivates the student to learn and achieve. Our tutoring sessions will be based on using student motivators to achieve learning objectives.

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

I would take a different approach to teaching that student until I found the most effective way to help the student learn the concept.

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

I determine what is causing the problem with reading comprehension. Is it a weak vocabulary? Is the text too difficult for the student to read, causing them to focus on the words more than the meaning? After I've determined this, I focus on what the student needs help with by using concept maps or looking up definitions for words, etc.

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

To help a student get excited and engaged with a subject they are struggling with, I like to help them relate that subject to something they like. For example, if we're working on word problems for math, it usually helps a student when the word problems are about something they enjoy. If we're working on reading comprehension, it always makes reading and discussing a story more fun if the child is interested in what we're reading. Then, we can go from there!

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

In order to make sure the student understands the material, I like to do monitoring checks every once in awhile when tutoring. I might teach the student how to do a math problem and then give them some practice problems that allow them to apply the skills just learned. Then, I would have the student explain to me how they solve the problem. This helps to cement the process for them.

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

In order to build a student's confidence in a subject, it helps to start out with simpler practice problems or questions that you know the student will get right and then build from there. If they see that they CAN do it, they will continue to be motivated to work on it.