What is your teaching philosophy?

My personal approach to teaching has always revolved on the potential of the student and the quality of the training and practice provided by the tutor. I know that teaching cannot work with a cookie cutter approach. Every student has his or her unique challenges, and tutoring is ineffective unless those challenges are identified and tailored solutions are created. I expect you to come in and give a hundred percent towards practice and training, and I guarantee I will provide the solutions that you need. Together, we can achieve the results you need!

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

In our first session, I will administer a practice test and diagnose the strengths and weaknesses you have. From there, I will prioritize concepts and types of questions based on how common the types of questions are in the test you will take. On the first day, we will start going through types of questions and the solutions one by one.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I believe the way to support and grow a student to becoming an independent answer comes from helping him or her understand the approach and not just the answer. Teaching the answer to the test is giving the student the final product without the tools needed to get there. By teaching the approach to the solution and explaining the fundamental assumptions and steps, the answers to questions become logical. At that point, the student is more able to use the tools for him or herself to solve unique problems.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I would help a student stay motivated by contextualizing the test. The first way would be to help the students understand what the consequences are for doing well on the test and not. It may be that students have not had so much of their future dependent on a single test. It’s impossible for them to completely understand what a good score means. This is something I went through and I can communicate very clearly to them The other way I would help a student stay motivated is to show them the elegance and rationale in these questions. Often times, these test questions may be seen as boring. However, by teaching the approach to the solution to these questions, the pieces to the puzzle and how they come together become apparent. It’s cool to see previous students notice how “neat” math can be and pursue the field further in their educational endeavors.

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

If students have difficulty learning a concept, I have come to realize the best way to approach the problem is from another angle. For example, the vast majority of math problems can be solved algebraically or geometrically. Further, most people tend to prefer one way of analysis to the other. By showing the other side of things, students have seen very positive results.

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

Confidence does not come from a trick. Confidence does not come with chance. Confidence only comes from guided practice. Fortunately, it is as simple as that. I will provide you all the guided practice you need to excel.

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

Adaptation to the needs of students starts with listening to the thought processes of these students. By asking a student to explain how he or she worked through the steps towards a solution, I can understand whether he or she is simply missing a step or misunderstanding a concept completely.

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

During a tutoring session, I will most likely bring practice problems or books, pencils and paper. I will bring graph paper/calculators if needed.