What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe that people learn through doing. First, a student may learn how to listen. They must become aware of how to listen to directions in a certain context so that they understand the language. Then, they may learn through active engagement with the material and constant dialogue.

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

In a first session, I would love to get to know a student on a personal level. What are some of their favorite things? What do they like/not like about school? What do they do in their free time? Ideally, I would find common ground with the student, and a context in which I could relate my experiences.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I am a huge component of constant feedback. A session may be wasted if feedback is only provided in the last five minutes. For this reason, I would help students stay motivated by maintaining a conversation over the material and relating to other interesting aspects of their life.

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

In this situation, I would slow the pace and revert back to the basics. Many students need a tutor to reorganize the foundational blocks in their understanding.

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

In this situation, I would keep a conversation with the student about a reading or something interesting. Sometimes, the best way to improve reading comprehension is to have students read something that really interests them like relevant news or sports. Then, they become motivated to remember it, so we can talk about it in a session.

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

I've found that finding out how the student feels about the material is the best strategy. Is this a subject that excites the student? Are they confident in their ability to understand? These are questions I like to answer before working with a student.

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

To get a student more excited, I would relate the material to my experiences, or some future experience that could be relevant to the student or even their family/friends.

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

To build confidence, I believe that students must be able to talk about the material in a non-educational conversation. It's not always about quizzes and questions. Sometimes, the best tool is to just talk about what a subject is and how it will help in the future.