
Daniel
Certified Tutor
Undergraduate Degree: United States Air Force Academy - Current Undergrad, Economics
Snowboarding, Weightlifting, Fitness, Military, Cars, Outdoor Rec, NFL, USAF
College English
Conversational Mandarin
High School English
Mandarin Chinese 1
Mandarin Chinese 3
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Get to know the student and their preferred method of learning, establish their expectations (short/ long-term), cover fundamentals and establish a baseline for future lessons.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
Establish a good teacher/ student relationship (they should be able to look forward to these tutor sessions). Go over fun concepts and interesting real world applications of the material we are covering.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Reassure them that it's okay, and that it does take A LOT of time to learn Chinese (I still study everyday)! Attempt to establish a solid base in that concept, and assign a homework that will help to solidify the concepts we covered in class.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Don't ignore the basics! It's so easy to feel like you can ignore simple mechanics, tones, or stroke orders, but that will only hurt you in the long run. If we can establish a solid foundation, learning will come much faster in the long run! Walk before you run.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Try to make personal connections with them and provide fun and interesting lessons. If we can increase a student’s interest in the subject material, it will be much easier to keep them engaged in our tutor session as well as in school work.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Ask questions covering concepts we covered in class, using different problems than the in class examples. Assign short/ manageable homework that will keep the student engaged after our sessions are over.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Positive reinforcement. This is an extracurricular learning environment, and should be something that the student can enjoy and look forward to.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
Keep a small manageable pool of students that I can get to know personally. Following this strategy, I can better match individual student needs, especially as time goes on and a student/ teacher relationship really begins to develop.
What is your teaching philosophy?
Basics first, last and always. I also tend to be very thorough in my approach. Slow and steady wins the race, especially when learning a difficult language like Mandarin Chinese.