What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe that a command of the language and having great communication skills will benefit all students and all careers. I strive to foster these skills in my students in ways that interest them and excite them about language.

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

In a typical first session, I'd speak with the tutee about what his concerns are and what he is hoping to gain from tutoring. Then, we can make a plan for success together.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I, by no means, have all the answers. I have to look things up and know some really great resources. I like to help students to become independent learners by teaching them these resources.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Sometimes good grades are not enough motivation for students because it's hard for them to see the long-term effects. Varying content material can teach the same skills, but with material that interests the students. New exciting content combined with parental incentives (like allowance or fun trips) will help the students to stay motivated.

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

If a student does not grasp a concept, another approach needs to be employed. Even if a difficult concept is drilled over and over, a student will not understand the concept until it is presented in a way she can understand and remember.

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

Reading comprehension is probably one of the biggest problems, reaching even into college-level courses. Annotating a text and discussing key points of the text are some of the most useful tools to aid reading comprehension.

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

Clear communication is the most useful tool when working with a new tutee. The tutor needs to have a clear idea of the tutee's understanding, hopes, and concerns.

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

I find one of the best ways to get students excited about a difficult subject is to change the way they think about it in the first place. Analytical tools can be applied to anything in their daily lives as well as classical literature.

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

When a student can teach something back to me and explain the why's, a student understands the material.

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

I like to choose content material based on the student's preferences in order to help them build confidence.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

I evaluate a student's needs based on what they do and do not say. But, sometimes students may not be aware of why they're struggling, so assessment techniques--formal and informal--need to be used to see where students stand.

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

Using the results from assessments helps me to adapt to the areas students need the most help. We can move on from concepts they understand and devote time to areas they need help in.

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

If the tutoring is course-specific, we definitely need the course text book(s), class notes, and instructions from the teacher. With that, online materials and databases can supplement the tools we use.