Dale

What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to be worked with individually to increase their understanding. It's important to relate to the student, and to try to connect ideas being learned in the subject and the outside world.

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

Find out their strengths and weaknesses, and get to know them better as a person and an individual. Focus on what helps them learn better and try to facilitate and focus my efforts towards helping them.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Study tips, becoming self-motivated, and tricks to be able to stay focused on a subject, but not getting too burnt out at the same time.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Pacing is important. Also, learning never stops, so it is very important to stay motivated. Some of the strongest motivation doesn't come from outside sources; it comes from self-motivation.

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

Try and approach the problem a little differently, as some students react better to different types of exposure, and attacking a problem at a different angle.

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

KWL charts to promote thinking, reading out loud to help trigger auditory learning and allowing them to think about what they are hearing and comprehend it.

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

Applying the material to all aspects of life and trying to connect with them on a person level, to make the subject a strong suit for them even if they don't love it!

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

Help them see progress and get the self-satisfaction that comes with learning something and growing your knowledge further. Weaknesses aren't permanent, and extreme progress that is quantitative can be seen quickly.

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

Reinforcement and challenging them on the true comprehension of the material, and making sure it isn't derived on memorizing facts and equations.

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

Start slow - continuously working towards their goal and showing them that it is possible to excel in a subject that they might be intimidated by.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

Meeting with them, observing and capturing their needs through both measurable qualities and things that cannot be measured, such as motivation, confusion, misconceptions, etc.

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

Each student is unique and no one has the same needs, strengths, weaknesses, or learning styles. It's important and my job to find the most effective way to help them reach their potential, in a way that is comfortable to them but still challenges them greatly!

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

Online: Writing tablet, scratch paper and pencil, dry erase. In person: dry erase boards, paper and pencil, visual reproductions and aides.