What is your teaching philosophy?

Understand the how, the why and the what and you will remember.

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

Determine the areas the student has covered in their class, how well they understand the material and find what areas need to be strengthened.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I instruct my students in how to study in a manner that strengthens the areas they are weak in, and in how to study in the future so that they fully understand the material they are expected to know, making retention easier.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I keep my students motivated by always pointing out their successes and improvements, no matter how small those improvements may be.

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

I would attempt to explain the concept from its conceptual basis and link it back to previously learned materials or everyday life concepts, or to activities the student may understand better and be able to relate the skill or concept to skills and concepts they may already know.

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

I have them slow down and attempt to explain to me what a passage means in its context. Any parts they don't understand I will explain to them, not only the meaning but how I derived the meaning of the passage, and have them attempt to reason out the same passage again later.

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

Practice, reinforcement of basic concepts and promoting the student's own reasoning abilities are the practices I have found to be the most successful at improving a student's performance in the beginning.

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

I discuss the real world applications and implications of the subject matter, and how those consequences affect our daily lives and human society, which at the very least makes the student realize the importance and the potential benefits of knowing and understanding the material they are struggling with.

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

I use conceptual checks and questions, usually in the form of a quiz every three sessions and immediately after every chapter of material covered. The questions test the foundation knowledge of the concept and require the student to understand the material in order to the answer the questions correctly, but never fall outside the bounds of what was discussed.

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

I always remind them and point out areas they have shown improvement in, and even if they answer wrong I never write-off portions that are correct, and I point out where the student was correct and what they are missing in their understanding.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

I discuss where they are suffering in their grades; low test scores, homework trouble, etc., and I will discuss with the student why they think their grades are down or how they feel about tests or other such questions and material. After I collect that information I determine where I think the student is struggling the most and then plan accordingly.

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

I address the student's and the student's parents' most immediate concerns first, and I am willing to bring additional resources I have available to me to any tutoring sessions if needed.

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

Generally paper, writing utensils, the student's textbook and assigned readings, and occasionally electronic information is used during tutoring sessions.