What is your teaching philosophy?

The most important skill a student can have is critical thinking. I use a back-and-forth approach with individual students to draw out what they already know based on their life experiences, then use that as an entry point to talk about the text.

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

The first step is getting to know a student, and identifying their strong and weak points. I ask them to show me a piece of work that they're particularly proud of, and one that they feel they could have done better.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

The most important trait for any learner is integrating what they've learned in the classroom with the rest of their lives. Learning is not a stand-alone school activity done merely for a grade, but a way to inform how we approach the world at large. By focusing on the ways that academic subjects are relevant to life outside the classroom, we can generate an interest in learning for its own sake.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

We all become demotivated sometimes, but the number one way we can break past that is by engaging with another person who is truly listening to us. A student's motivation to learn is directly proportional to motivation to teach.

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

Each person has a different learning style. When a student is having difficulty, it's my role to change the way they learn that skill.

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

Lack of comprehension is common when a work is boring; every one of us can recall a time that we "zone out" partway through a difficult work. We can avoid this by breaking larger pieces into more manageable chunks and discuss what just happened in each of those chunks. We can also work on close readings at the sentence level, and examining why an author might choose a particular phrase. These activities help make reading into more of a dialogue, keeping students engaged.

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

The number one strategy I can employ as a tutor is reminding a student that I am not their teacher; I am not grading; I am not judging. I am here solely to help them become the best learner they can be.