What is your teaching philosophy?

My teaching principles include articulating clear expectations from students, formulating objectives for what students should understand and be able to use effectively, employing a variety of approaches to teaching during each session, and prompting students to critical and creative thinking.

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

To gain a sense of the student.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

To promote independent thinking, I introduce students to several structured thinking skills during my tutorial sessions. These skills are quick, reliable methods that aid students in unpacking information (i.e. for a complex reading assignment); organizing information effectively (which puts students on a road of assurance for writing assignments, which may feel daunting), and methods for reviewing their work for submission. I encourage students to draw on their multiple forms of intelligence--to not separate bodies of knowledge but to have confidence in a more holistic approach to their work--drawing on information they may already hold from different subjects.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Personalizing work is a wonderful way to stimulate and motivate a student. As a teacher, I feel it is important to make personal connections to the material--even if the final outcome, the final assignment is not personally-oriented. It remains a good idea to think personally about the assignment--to make those personal connections--and to branch out from there. This gives the work an added significance and also helps the student to remember the work for some time to come.

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

The first step in helping a student grasp a difficult concept or skill is to slow down the pace at which we are learning. Secondly, we dissect the components or steps in a problem, assuring that at each step or level, the student is clear on what is being asked. Often, clarity is a key toward unlocking a door to a problematic skill. Thirdly, we approach the skill or concept together--articulating aloud the approach(s) we are making.

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

Reading comprehension is a specialty of mine. I introduce structured thinking skills (that I've created) which aid students in breaking down large chunks of information--sometimes given in exam reading problems or school assignments. Learning how to dissect information on the page is a feat many students grasp quickly, and within little time students are able to transfer the page-skillset to their brain so that they can automatically dissect chunks of information, without even needing to write it down. However, I stress to students that note-taking and using graphic organizers (like those I use in tutorial sessions) should never carry shame. It is a wonderful idea to boost reading comprehension and also makes writing essays a much smoother process.

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

The most useful strategy is communicating a work plan and thoroughly understanding each juncture of the tutorial session. I also find that scaffolding work, wherein I mean several different styles of lessons within any given session, optimizes student success because it enables students to assess their own "best practices" (the best ways they learn material.) I often solicit from students which of the styles of lessons they like best (and I ask them why). Later, if challenging material is being taught, we will definitely use the skill sets and styles of lessons the student feels the most comfortable with.