What is your teaching philosophy?

Every has a different way of learning; the key is to work with the student to find what works best for them.

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

First it's getting to know the student and what they want to work on the most. It's also putting the student at ease so they feel comfortable working with you.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

By giving them tips and tricks to try in their everyday lives that are sometimes unconventional, but have been proven to work through great personal experience.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

By teaching them time-management skills. Half the battle is managing time correctly, so they don't become overwhelmed and give up completely.

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

Work with the student and adjust how the skill is being taught; sometimes it's a matter of using visual or spatial methods instead of verbal. There is more than one right way to learn a skill.

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

Work with the student where they have the most difficulty, especially if it is something that is akin to a learning disability, and adjust accordingly.

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

Putting the student at ease during our sessions, so the student is not afraid to get a wrong answer the first time. It's our goal to work towards the right answer, and in learning, sometimes you have to make mistakes to get there.

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

Find out what subjects excite and engage the student normally, and figure out a way to tailor lessons to mimic those subjects. For example, I had a lot of trouble with math when I was younger, until a teacher started using art and visual/spatial methods with me, and I was able to start grasping concepts that used to be completely foreign to me.

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

Go with the student step-by-step, and quiz the student as we go along, sometimes pausing to emphasize a particular piece of material. This teaches the student to learn how to parse what information is useful and what isn't as they go along.

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

I tend to accentuate the positive and downplay the negative. When mistakes are made, I tell them it's okay and to try again. But I also don't let the student stop until they know they have the right answer.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

By working with the student and trying a variety of learning techniques until we hit on one that helps and excites the student.

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

I use a variety of methods to teach any given subject; it's all a matter of finding which one works best for each particular student.

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

Usually I get information from the student or parent beforehand on what the student is studying and what goals they want to achieve, and then I bring along materials such as workbooks, prep quizzes, and essays that the student can use to study from.