What is your teaching philosophy?

My teaching philosophy is very simple. I believe that every student can, and will learn the material necessary to be successful if they are focused, diligent with their studies, motivated to succeed in life, and determined to use all of the resources that they have to grow their knowledge base and academic abilities. I am a facilitator of knowledge. My greatest role is to patiently guide the student to come up with answers to questions on their own. When they cannot answer, my role is to guide them to understanding the answers and coming to a conclusive ability to transfer that knowledge to other similar problems. Getting students to think for themselves, to problem solve, and to come to conclusions themselves encourages self-esteem and allows for them to recognize their ability to succeed. When students learn that they can learn, the sky is the limit for them. Because when they can adapt to a new environment and take on new ideas using their knowledge in school as a background and foundation for excellence, they can achieve their goals with pride, and excellence.

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

I would get to know my students. Understanding how they learn and process information is key in aiding the student through the learning process. Once I develop a rapport with the student I can proceed in aiding him/her to continue on with learning.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Once the student understands the importance of learning, then the student will be able to develop a desire to learn. Once the student understands the learning process and the material being taught, then that student has a better chance of transferring that knowledge to other facets of learning.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Encouraging the student to develop a passion for learning is key. Once the student develops a desire to learn, and can understand why the material is important, interesting, or valuable to their lives in the world, they will be more motivated to continue the learning process.

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

The first step is to break down the pieces of the material into palatable pieces. If the student is having trouble with reading, the student needs to understand not just the themes, and why they interesting or important, but also the structure of the material. Breaking concepts down into palatable pieces enables the student to take the concepts in piece by piece. The material will be easier to learn using that strategy.

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

Reading is all about understanding themes, ideas and concepts. It is important to help the student to engage with the reading. Once the student is engaged I can focus on breaking down the concept pieces so that the student has the potential to learn the structure as well as the ideas. Helping the student to connect the dots with the concepts and see how they run together with familiar themes can help the student to see the bigger picture and learn the concepts more readily.