What is your teaching philosophy?

I see teaching in terms of finding the appropriate way to help a student acquire understanding and knowledge over a subject or that which seems difficult and lacking in clarity. I seek to allow a student to experience the learning process as one that is enjoyable and something that will forever be a part of their life!

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

I approach a first lesson as a getting to know you lesson - letting the student tell me about the subject we will be working on and how they are currently studying. I want to get a good understanding of where the student is as far as knowledge and where the gaps are. The first session is to simply provide a beginning to establishing future teaching plans. First session is usually one where the student is allowed to set goals and expectations going forward.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Part of teaching a student is to see the joy that learning brings, giving the student opportunities to teach me something that I may not be familiar with. I also enjoy giving the student a chance to teach and learn at the same time. Learning to teach oneself is one goal that I hope to impart onto students.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I use a lot of positive reinforcement and give students stimuli to keep them focused on particular goals. Setting attainable goals as we go along, is key to motivation.

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

I seldom give up when faced with such a situation. If the student is not progressing with one learning methodology, I switch the method until I find a way that clears the difficulty. Creating a specialized and student-targeted learning session is my responsibility when I tutor.

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

Two things: I first have them read out loud to me, and I stop them every few minutes to ask them a question or two about what they just read. After doing this exercise a few times, I begin giving the students small reading passages where, as a group, we would dissect the passage to try to gain its meaning. We begin with short passages and build up to short stories over time.

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

Sharing some of my personal experiences as a student and some of the learning problems I may have faced shows that, at some level, I understand what the student is experiencing. Sharing how I used processes and strategies to get over my studying problems usually allows the student to know that the work we will do together is a result of what I have learned, applied, and succeeded with over my school years.

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

I like to help the student change the perception of the subject at hand by focusing on how the subject can be applied to everyday life. I try to get the student to see the subject as a game that is meant to be fun.

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

I do short quizzes after every session to test for comprehension. If after the session, the student shows lack of comprehension, I give a small assignment that gives the student a chance to demonstrate that we can cover new material during the next session. I am a big believer in showing students how listening (audio), seeing, and writing things out helps a lot to reinforce understanding concepts that seem difficult.