What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe it's important to identify and focus on each student's individual needs. With one to one attention learning can be productive and fun!

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

I like to spend the first session introducing myself and getting to know the student and any family that will be involved in the learning process. During this "getting to know one another" time, it's important to identify areas in need of improvement and plans to achieve success.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I think students lose their motivation after experiencing negative feedback, backsliding and failures. My philosophy is to give positive responses for their efforts as well as pointing out improvements (no matter how small they may be) as a form of encouragement to keep up the hard work.

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

Often skills and concepts can be learned in more than one way. I find that when a student isn't grasping something it could simply be the way the material is presented, so I try to approach the subject from a different angle until we find a way for the student to successfully learn the material.

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

I think the most important thing to do to be successful with a student is to establish a good rapport. I don't want the student to feel like I'm there to drive a hard line. I want learning to be fun and productive, and if the student understands that he is likely to relax and be more open to the process.