What is your teaching philosophy?

My philosophy is to provide students with an understanding of not just the how of a subject but the why. Deeper knowledge of the fundamentals of subjects ultimately improves comprehension as topics become more difficult.

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

I like to explain skills and concepts in multiple ways. Examples are great at illustrating ideas, and I try to find examples that fit with a student's interests and experience, in order to put difficult tasks into a context they can better understand.

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

There are two key components to reading comprehension: vocabulary and analysis. There is a certain baseline of vocabulary necessary to understand material at a given reading level. If a student does not have this vocabulary down, then I work with them on vocabulary in tandem with comprehension. Analysis of a passage is the other component of reading comprehension. It often helps to walk students through analyzing a passage, to ask them about topics such as main ideas and the author's point of view. The key point is to get the student to interrogate the passages they read. Successful readers constantly ask questions of the material they read. By asking my student questions about their readings, I inculcate these attitudes.