What is your teaching philosophy?

My main thing is knowing the needs of the students. You can't just teach what you think he/she needs help with. So, first listening to students what they actually are struggling is the key. That's the philosophy I always keep in mind.

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

Get to know each other a little - may be a quiz. Yes, it does scare them but it also helps them open up what they really need help from the mistakes they make. Or a quick chat is good as well to get into what they are working on currently.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Inspire them, encourage them, provide them with learning materials that they could do in their spare time. This way they become more independent and willing in challenging subjects.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I usually encourage them to try some problems on their own in their spare time. From my experience, the challenge usually occurs from lack of practice and my advice is "1 or 2-hour session is not enough to master a certain topic". Thus, I advised them to practice on their own and encouraged them to make themselves feel confident.

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

I will go through and brainstorm the topics that the student is struggling. Usually students struggle in the topics that they previously learned. I usually go back to the basics of those concepts and see if they really don't know that particular topic or they need to freshen up.

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

I would recommend quickly scanning the article or paragraphs to grasp the idea of what it is about. Then I will recommend close reading if the student is still struggling with the main ideas, supporting ideas and details. Usually taking notes of important details help you analyze the details and give you the overall idea of the readings.

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

My main strategy is going through the main concept of the topic Then I can assess the student’s understandings as well as help them refresh the learning materials. Encouraging them also helps because sometimes they look up to the seniors who have been through all these classes and struggles and they need affirmation if they are doing the right thing or on the right track.

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

I would connect the topics to their interests. For example, a student with finance major usually finds difficulty in dealing with derivatives and other advanced math problems. I would explain that the finance field is becoming interdisciplinary and it can lead to more challenging perspectives like data science, financial engineering, mathematical finance, etc. This helps them get the idea of using their field of study in professional fields.

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

I ask them to try some examples and problems and ask them what they learned during the session. In this way, I could see if they really comprehend what we learn during the session or if we can move to another topic.

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

Students get confident when they are actually comfortable with the subjects. To get to that point, I usually recommend practice different problems and quizzes with mixed topics and sections. Students are usually comfortable with one topic (for instance, logarithmic functions) but when there are mixed topics, that's when they are struggling. So to be confident in any types of questions, practice makes perfect.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

For direct approach, I usually ask questions if they need help or more elaborating on the topics. If students are either shy or not willing to ask, I give them some questions to review on their own. On next session, we can see how they have done it and evaluate.

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

Different students have strengths in different learning styles. Some prefer detail explanations; some, visual. Others prefer their tutor actually write down step by step. But this is not new since that is what tutors are for to adapt and help them in best possible ways. For me, I evaluate in the first couple sessions what learning styles they prefer or what medium helps them comprehend the best.

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

The best are paper and pencil. For further practice, I use examples from the textbooks or some online questions that are available. Sometimes I would recommend other online sites to practice or check their solutions.