What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe every student can learn and every teacher has different ways of teaching. Before I teach my students, I would like to know their previous knowledge, learning habits, test scores, etc. When I teach or tutor, I usually ask a lot of questions to encourage my students to think critically instead of telling them everything. I teach math for understanding not memorizing the formulas and steps.

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

I would talk to my student to find out his/her education history, prior knowledge of the subject, learning habits, scores, strengths, and the difficulties he/she has. Then my student and I will come up with a plan for tutoring and make clear what the goals of the tutoring are. If we still have time, I would help my student review his/her prior knowledge and make some connection to what he/she is learning now.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

1. I will help my students make a study plan and monitor how my students follow the plan and make adjustments to the plan if needed; 2. I will ask questions to encourage critical thinking; 3. I will provide some guidance so that the student can review for a test independently.

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

First, I will let them know that everybody has difficulty learning something. Next, I will ask my student questions to find out why the concept does not make sense to him/her. Then, I will use a different method to get the meaning across. I may use a video or a real life example to help my student understand.

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

I will ask my student to explain the material to me. I will know that my student has a thorough understanding if he/she provides a good response. I can also have my student try some problems and see how well he/she does.

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

It depends on the situation. If my student were in a public school or an independent charter school, I would use his/her textbook as the main source of content material and augment that with other sources such as online videos or materials that I have developed to teach a specific concept.