What is your teaching philosophy?

I am really passionate about differentiated instruction. It is crucial to teach to the student and figure out how they learn so that teaching strategies are beneficial to the student. In doing the latter, one can help the student reach their goals and truly grasp the content they are trying to learn or achieve.

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

I like to take time the first session getting to know the student and what they know and what their goals are. Thereafter, I'd like to construct a plan with the student that helps to lay the foundation to build their confidence and move forward with future lesson plans and tutoring.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Allowing the student to be an active participant and do the work is vital to the student learning a concept being taught. Thus, as a tutor, I would not do all the talking, nor all the work. I would be an active listener as well. This way, I can identify any problem areas the student has and offer feasible solutions. Ultimately, I feel it's my goal to turn the learning over to the student and guide them through the thinking process. With the encouragement and support that I would give them throughout this process, it would increase the probability of their success over the content and becoming an independent learner.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

There are a few things I would incorporate into my strategies to help keep students motivated. They are, but not limited to: Giving students a sense of control with their learning, making sure that objectives and learning goals are clearly defined, giving positive reinforcements and feedback, making sure to offer varied learning experiences because not all students learn the same, giving students responsibility over the work they are performing and learning, being excited when tutoring, encouraging the student to self-reflect on what they have learned, targeting what interests the student in order to make a connection to what the student is learning, making sure that goals are within the students reach but that they meet what is required for them to learn, making the learning process fun, and being patient.

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

I would definitely reteach the material. However, I would consider reteaching it a different way and making sure that I am chunking down the steps of what is being learned and rechecking that the student understands each component of the steps.

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

I would use a lot of direct questioning so that the student can recall or refer to the story in order to compose answers. Additionally, I would make sure to explain concepts or instructions clearly because oftentimes students are interpreting what is being asked incorrectly. This would entail defining vocabulary used what is being read or the question being asked. I would make sure to model the process of what reading comprehension looks like. Having a modeled example really helps. Providing cues to prompt the student is beneficial as well, whether they are visual or verbal cues. The process for building the student's reading comprehension would be reading aloud, shared reading between myself and them, guided reading with direct questions and discussion, and ultimately independent reading and question answering. And even more importantly, I would try to see how I can assist the student with making a personal connection with what they are reading because when a student can connect a personal experience they oftentimes are better able to comprehend what is being read.

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

Knowing what interests the student and how they learn is important. Additionally, I like to establish agreed upon goals with the student. When the student knows what they are working towards, this gives them something to aim and work towards. I like to start small and then build bigger when tutoring students in concepts they need assistance with. This helps them understand the process and steps of what they are learning. Wherever I see gaps in the learning, I take that information and formulate an approach that helps the student fill that gap. And as always, maintaining patience from the beginning to the end is a strategy because how students learn and process new or complex information varies. So sometimes it is relevant to step back and see how they are understanding things and thereafter give clarification where needed.

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

Staying positive and offering relevant and positive feedback is a great way to motivate students. Allowing them to have a sense of participation and responsibility in what is being learned is also a great way to engage them. As a tutor, I am there to help with the work but the student also does work too. It is when they actively are participating that they are applying what is learned in order for it to really stick with them and register understanding. Encouraging students to self-reflect on their work is another great way to engage them. When a student can evaluate, reflect, and critique their work it allows them to be in control of what they are doing. Another important thing is having the students help set the objectives or goals of what they accomplish. Giving students varied experiences of how to learn content is another fun and engaging way of getting beyond the challenges they may be having, especially when you can present material with something that interests the student.

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

Here are few techniques I like to use for checking student understanding: 1. role-reversal, 2. asking probing questions, 3. asking students to paraphrase/summarize material in their own words, 4. encourage students to ask questions, and 5. have discussion sessions with the student.

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

Giving praise and positive feedback is number one. Students want to know when they are doing something right or when they are making progress with effort. Creating attainable goals with the student helps them to see their progress and growth. Some mistakes are worth overlooking because there are times that just the mere fact the student is attempting to participate and process the information is quite an achievement. And this should be celebrated because it will motivate the student to keep engaging and playing an active role in their learning process.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

Getting to know the student is key to learning what their needs are. There are a couple of ways to assess the needs of a student. It can be done formally, by asking questions in the form of a quiz. Additionally, it can be done via evaluating an assignment they have worked on (during learning activities it can be observed and notated/logged) and constant observation. Wherever there are gaps, they should be notated so they can be addressed in the current session or a later session that is specific to what need was assessed or observed.

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

There are many ways to adapt tutoring strategies to student's needs. Some techniques are using visuals, providing oral and written instructions, allowing students to role-play in order to assist learning of concepts (example tutor becomes the student and student becomes the tutor), games, hands-on activities, being patient and hearing the student all the way out, and allowing students to present their answers to a question in a format that they are comfortable with. (This requires flexibility on my part, which I am more than willing to give.)

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

I use integrated technology, visuals, hands-on activities, flashcards, mock tests, student's classwork/tests/study materials, pencils/pens/paper, note cards, calendar/planner, textbooks, test prep specific materials, questions, patience, and a positive attitude.