What is your teaching philosophy?

Patience is key. Everyone has their own strengths and learns at their own pace. I make sure my students understand a concept fully before moving on to new material.

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

First off is an introduction. Then hopefully we can get to know each other a little better, what are our hobbies, interests etc. Then I will find out what areas they are struggling with, and what areas they are comfortable with. I will present some diagnostic problems to see where they stand, and go from there.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I can teach them effective ways to study. I personally find that videos and worked examples are the most effective ways of learning a new math concept. If a student can find enough worked examples, either on the internet or in textbooks by themselves, they will be much more comfortable if something similar comes up in a test.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

It's hard to stay motivated in a subject with which you're struggling. The best way that I have found to keep students motivated, is to boost their confidence by showing them the subject is not as hard as they thought. Once they can do problems relatively quickly and get the correct answer, motivation naturally follows from there.

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

I will try and break down the steps to identify what exactly the student is having trouble understanding. Often, I have from my own experience and from students I have tutored, that it is one small step in a larger process that is tripping students up. Once that issue is isolated and dealt with, the whole concept or problem becomes much more simple and clear.

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

Reading comprehension can be an issue in math if presented with a worded problem. The best way that I have found to deal with this is to teach the student to isolate keywords in the problem statement. For example, the words "a number" often means the variable "x" they have to find.

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

In my experience, the best strategy is: examples, examples, and examples. Theory of course is important at the beginning, but it is not enough. The more examples a student gets through, the more confident they are in their abilities and the more they can see how the theory is actually applied.

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

Telling them about past students I have worked in the past who were struggling in a particular subject and then overcame their difficulty can often inspire students and give them hope. Another way is by telling them about all the possible career options that involve that particular subject, and how many choices they will have once they get through it.

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

As I said in another question: examples, examples, and examples! Working through examples is the best way of cementing knowledge in one's brain in my opinion. Also, before moving on to new material, I will ask the student to pretend that (s)he is the tutor, and I am the student, and explain back to me what I just taught them.

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

Baby steps: get through one problem at a time. Find out what points they are struggling with, address those issues, move on, rinse & repeat. Eventually, they will be confident in all of the subject material.