What is your teaching philosophy?

To be positive, patient, and a good listener. These attributes are very important when teaching someone a foreign language, as it can be frustrating for the student at times. I give the student time to think instead of rushing through just to finish. By listening carefully, I am able to notice mistakes that we can work on in future classes. If they don't understand something that I am explaining, I look for different ways to make it clear. The idea is to meet my students at their level and bring them to where they want to be. With private classes, I gear the class to the student's needs. If he/she needs to pass a specific test, then we will focus on that. However, if the student will have to have a phone conversation, then more time will be spent conversing and doing listening activities. I utilize a multi-sensory communicative approach, so students will be doing activities that involve reading, listening, writing, and speaking. Each one complements the other, and it's good to try to improve the weak areas. Learning takes place in context. For example, if students are learning about food, they could do an information gap activity where they work with a partner in order to find out how much items cost on their shopping list. For me, preparation is key. -)Carefully prepared lesson plans allow me to deliver an effective class. Beginning with a clear objective in mind, and anticipating any problems that my students might have. -)Creating a number of activities, gradually increasing in difficulty, demanding more from the student. Making sure that each activity has clear instructions, giving clear examples and modeling the activity to avoid confusion. The activities serve as both a way to internalize the information, as well as a diagnostic tool to identify areas of strength and weakness.

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

The first session is a time to get to know each other, and for me to assess the student's needs. I will find out what strategies you have used in the past to learn, those that have worked or have not worked. I will also discuss my lesson ideas and long-term strategies. It would also be nice to get an idea of how much homework you currently have to determine if I should assign homework on top of it.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

By teaching them language learning strategies when they are alone. Since I have already gone through the process, I know what works for me, but I will assign homework that will allow the student to figure out how he/she learns best. In my case, I enjoyed reading and trying to figure out the meaning of words that I did not know. After making an educated guess based on context, I would look up the word to verify it's meaning. I would also make a list of words that I could not remember in Spanish when I was speaking with someone. This enabled me to focus on learning vocabulary that was important for me.