What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe that every individual student can reach his or her goal. As an educational facilitator, it is my quest to assist students in finding the method that enhances their strengths and provides them the confidence to succeed.

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

In a typical first session with a student, I will ask questions about how they feel they learn best, e.g. auditory, visually, or kinetically. We will engage in dialogue to assess their strengths and perceived weaknesses, and then craft a plan that they feel will best help them.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Independent learning comes with confidence in the student's ability to comprehend material. Through individualized instruction, confidence will increase as the student crafts their own plan with tutorial guidance.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Student motivation increases and remains as long as that student is engaged on a personal level, not just going through the motions of learning. Excitement comes with confidence, and it increases motivation to grow exponentially.

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

All students have some difficulties when new material is presented or confidence levels are low. My method is to first determine what is creating the difficulty, e.g. is it lack of comprehension, method of delivery, etc., then offering suggestions for different methods of learning.

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

Through annotation and questioning by the student on a given reading assignment, the student learns to analyze and critically think about what the author is saying.

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

Building rapport with students, and acknowledging their innate ability to learn, are vital in successful facilitation. Respect for acquired knowledge and as a human being creates an environment that is conducive to learning.

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

Engagement with a subject comes with confidence in the ability to learn. Success comes with confidence; excitement comes with success.

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

Student understanding of given material comes through discussion, quizzes and dialogue.

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

Through acquired learning success in how to approach a given subject, student confidence is built.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

Dialogue with students and respect for their thought processes provides insight into the needs of each individual student.

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

As each student is an individual with their own learning ability, a competent tutor will adjust methodology to meet those abilities, build on their strengths, and bolster their confidence.

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

Examples of acceptable work are an excellent way to demonstrate what is required to succeed in that subject.