What is your teaching philosophy?

Learning the material will help for the test... Learning how to learn most effectively will help for the rest of life.

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

Sit down and chat about each other, discuss hobbies and interests. Then move onto goals in life, goals in school, and goals from the tutoring. From there we will discuss expectations for working with each other.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Demonstrating strategies and plans for achieving independence as a learner. Encouragement for the difficulties that accompany learning on your own. And making myself available as a resource for times when the student feels stuck.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I believe every student has a lot of motivation in them. It's a matter of uncovering what's blocking them. We all want to succeed. Sometimes fear of failure gets in the way; sometimes the desire for instant gratification is the culprit. Whatever it is, it's important to understand what is holding the student back. To talk about that and hopefully work through with support from my end.

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

Go over it again if there’s still trouble. Move on and come back to it. Ask them to think about the skill/concept that night. Often times a good night’s rest can reset the brain and make concepts click. Readdress the issue in the next session, and continue working on it in a reasonable manner until it is understood.

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

I encourage my students to slow down. It's ok to be a very slow reader. You'll get faster and faster the more you do it. The most important piece is that you understand what we have read. Imagining a movie in your head of what you’ve read is a great way for this. After a sentence, or paragraph, pause for a moment and imagine what was described like it was a movie. Then move on. Depending on the level of comprehension difficulty, there are many strategies that we can use to help foster improvement.

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

Students are often very adaptive to their surroundings. The most important thing I can do is show my genuine excitement for learning the subject. I can also explain just how lucky we are to be able to have the ability to learn the way that we do as humans in general.

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

Tracking their work and reminding them of the progress that they've made. Learning anything is a long-term process. Our emotions are very immediate. We want to understand concepts immediately. By encouraging embracing the struggle and their progress, the student will start to understand that his/her work is paying off.