What is your teaching philosophy?

I apply the Socratic method to all learning situations. I assess where a student is, and ask the right questions to facilitate the next step.

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

Assess goals, discuss previous results, dive into self-described trouble spots, and create a plan for success.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

The greatest challenge in cultivating an independent learner is instilling a desire to learn. Incremental accomplishments, recognized improvements, and reinforcement of positive change are the surest ways to create that desire.

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

My job is to uncover how the student is currently thinking about the skill or concept, identify the challenge, and reteach it in a way that better fits with the student's current thinking.

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

Asking the right questions and listening to understand how s/he thinks, then crafting lessons and strategies to develop from that starting point.

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

Small wins add up. A focus on learning bite-sized pieces of challenging subjects and experiencing incremental gains is a sure way to create engagement.