What is your teaching philosophy?

My teaching philosophy is to be a guide book rather than an answer book. I can give you the answer, but that won't help you on a test. What will help you is guiding you through a problem and letting you solve it on your own.

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

In a first session, I usually like to get to know you a bit and figure out how confident you feel with your studies. This enables me to see how much guidance you need as well as what type of learning style best suits you.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

The key to become an independent learner is practicing correctly. As a tutor, I need to show the student the steps to do a problem correctly and confidently; if I fulfill my job then the student should be able to practice on their own.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I would help a student stay motivated by celebrating little successes. I would often have discouraged students come into where I worked. I found most students were discouraged because they felt overwhelmed and incompetent. As a tutor, I realized that if I walked the student through the problem step by step then had them try a similar problem, helping them when needed, it increased their confidence and they went away much happier.

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

Not give up! I would walk through that concept with them until they understood it. I think everyone has the ability to learn; we sometimes just need it taught to us in a different way. So if a student doesn't understand when I vocalize a concept, I'd try drawing out what I'm saying and see if that helps. If that continues to be a struggle, I would keep exploring different learning techniques until I found a style that best suited that student.