What is your teaching philosophy?

All things are possible! Students acquire knowledge at different rates and in different ways. Mastering material takes a dedication of focused time and practice. Neuroscience shows cramming is not adequate for retention and practice helps instill patterns of success. Many students understand more concepts than what they give themselves credit. They just need a guide to help them see their strengths, answer their questions, and encourage their confidence.

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

We need to get to know each other and develop a trust. We'll set our expectations and goals and hopefully be excited to execute our plan. How a student prefers to learn is important. Learning styles vary by 3 main categories: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. We'll try to establish how you want to work, the way you naturally prefer to learn.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Students need confidence to be independent learners. They need to experience successes and then they can help plan their strategies for finding help when they need it. There are multiple resources to help further their knowledge.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

People like knowing why they are doing a task. An end goal or understanding of the overall picture helps to maintain motivation. When a person has "buy-in", they are dedicated to the finishing the task. Breaking up a problem into smaller, obtainable benchmarks makes a large task achievable. Setting multiple small goals removes the image of an insurmountable problem. So celebrate the small successes as you go along, they add up in the end.

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

There are multiple ways to approach a problem. So we'll trying looking at things in a different way. It's also important to take a step back sometimes. Take a break from one task and work on another.

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

Think-aloud is a great way to work on reading comprehension. As students try to express what they read, they can refer back to the text for phrases and ideas to explain the passage in their own words.

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

Students want to get to know you and build trust. A relationship needs to develop so that they can have a safe place to try, without worrying about failing. At the onset, clearly stating our expectations helps us establish a working plan. We can even write it down in a Venn Diagram if we want.

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

I try to bring examples to students where they have already demonstrated mastery of some of the concepts in their previous life experiences. These small steps build confidence, and an entryway into a subject they are struggling in. And we need to go back to where they have a firm foundation of understanding, that’s where we start working on new mastery.

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

I like to have students teach me the concepts, or summarize the ideas in their own words. This can be verbal, written bullet points, or whatever format they embrace. If they can teach it, then they know the material. Better yet, they can teach their parents what they learned.

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

Success builds confidence. We will build many successes on the way to mastery.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

There are multiple ways to evaluate student needs. Their reasoning process they used while working helps reveal their needs. Along with them summarizing or wrapping up what our main topic points of the day were. Tracking their time on tasks helps to establish areas of focus.

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

Each student is unique, so we tailor our work and approach to what fits them best. Maps, charts, color-coding, conversing, movement, rhythmic recitation, etc., can all be used to engage an emerging learner.

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

I'm a visual learner, so I typically use a lot of paper and pencil, with color-coding and note writing. And I like manipulatives and other visual aids.