What is your teaching philosophy?

Meet people at their level and start from there with a positive attitude. Learning never stops.

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

I would ask the student about him or herself to figure out learning style, how the student feels about school/education, what the student is interested in, what strategies the student feels hasn't worked in the past. After getting some basic information, I would come up with a structured plan based on the individual student's personality and learning style.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Empowering a student to be a self-initiator can be challenging, but meeting the student at his or her level is fundamental. We can build off from there by digging into the student's passion and his or her desire to learn. Does the student have a specific goal? Does the student need to address past negative academic experiences? The biggest question is: does the student think he or she can learn independently? If not, I would explore why these feelings might be happening so that we could find empowering strategies to work towards academic and personal goals.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Intrinsic motivation (internal) is important for a student. I would use the SMART goal method to set a reasonable goal with the student for each lesson that he or she can keep track of. By setting realistic goals that can be done in a reasonable timeline, a student can see that he or she can break down larger goals into small steps that are manageable.

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

I would ask the student how he or she has learned difficult concepts in the past. If the student likes to learn through different forms of media, I would see what other materials I could introduce. For example, I could find an online video that might work better to explain a concept vs. a book.