What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe that through education any and every student can accomplish any task, and it is the student that seeks assistance, is motivated to try and is not perfect at every moment, that will accomplish the most. Learning comes with a requirement to try and to never give up.

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

I want to get to know my students personally, know their likes and dislikes, and understand what is bothering them about a particular topic.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I encourage independent study skills and prompt students with questions that allow for scaffolding, gaining confidence in their abilities and being able to take what I teach them and apply it to their subject area.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Encouraging them, challenging them and fostering an interest in the subject. Students need to be challenged and interested in order to be motivated.

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

I would break down the problem, step by step, and approach each part with a prompt, and explanation and a real life example (if applicable).

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

Often, reading comprehension is hindered by small words or phrases that boggle our minds. I like break down the passages by looking at the simple point students are overlooking, and then looking at the vocabulary to help build a better understanding.

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

I've found scaffolding, chunking, reading out loud, having them tell me what they studied that week/month, creating graphic organizers to help organize those thoughts, and generally just getting to know my students.

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

I would find a current event or something interesting about the subject at hand. I think that half of the problem with education now is that students don't get to explore, which is something I love to help them do.

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

Scaffolding, prompting with questions, varying the level of difficulty, and having them give me real life examples of where they can use a particular subject.

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

Giving them praise where praise is due and explaining that it's okay to not get every answer right. Instead of asking a question, for example, and receiving a question with no confidence, I will usually follow up with "are you sure?" Most students will say yes, and when they get it right, it gives a real confidence boost.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

I gather their needs based on how they answer questions and where/when they seem the most frustrated.

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

I adapt based on what my students need from me. If they need to be explained something in simpler terms, I break it down as much as needed. If they need to see something written, we write it as many times and is as many different ways as possible until they understand it.

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

I prefer white boards, textbooks, graphic organizers and any visual models that I can use/create.