Henry
Certified Tutor
Undergraduate Degree: University of South Carolina-Columbia - Bachelors, English
Graduate Degree: Duke University - PHD, English
Poetry, fiction, film, social justice work, golf
American Literature
College English
College Level American Literature
Comparative Literature
Fiction Writing
High School English
High School Level American Literature
Introduction to Fiction
Poetry
What is your teaching philosophy?
My goals as a teacher are to help students gain knowledge, skills and independence in particular subjects. My approach is to understand how individuals learn best and to use those abilities to strengthen performance. I use encouragement and confidence building as strategies. I never belittle, ridicule or embarrass students, who never learn anything from those techniques. Respect is the key to learning.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
The specifics will depend on the subject, of course. In a writing, tutorial I probably would start with a subject to write about. Then, I would have the student do several things to get started, such as reading related material, brainstorming ideas and writing a few paragraphs. We would then go over the paragraphs to identify and discuss what was important about grammar, vocabulary, coherent structure, evidence and so on. After that, the student would rewrite the paragraph and the practice would continue until real improvements that the student recognizes begin to show up. For longer essays several sessions might be needed. For other subjects, reading perhaps, a similar hands-on approach in which the students is heavily engaged would be used.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
I help students become independent learners by indicating the ways to improve their work. I then let them put those skills into practice so that they learn to master them.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Give clearer explanations, discuss the reasons for the skill, provide more practice, discuss improvements in the skill and next achievements to work for
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
I try to identify the barriers--vocabulary, verbs, sentence structure, reference problems--and come up with exercises to help as well as go over passages with them to guide their understanding.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Strategies differ with the subject. In writing, for example, I have the student write a passage. We discuss it to identify its strong and weak parts. The student then rewrites the passage to see if any weaknesses continue and what gets better. This direct participation by the student continues as central to learning to write.