What is your teaching philosophy?

Never give up! There are so many things we can learn if we will just stick with it. That means I encourage my students by discovering their strengths and weaknesses, helping them set attainable goals and making learning exciting. This also means that as I encourage them to not give up when the going gets tough, I will not give up on them. My goal is to set the bar just high enough to be a challenge, but not so high they can't stretch to reach it.

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

Get to know them. What are their hobbies, how do they prefer to interact with people, what goals are there, how do they want me to help them reach those goals, etc.? I would also want to discuss how to create a goal, and make our own set of goals together.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I would give them resources they can use through the internet, and give them ideas about how they can find the information to answer questions that may come up. I would teach them how to create clear, efficient, and attainable goals. In this way they would be able to see the improvement and be encouraged to become more proficient in the area presenting the challenge.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

There are many ways. I like to say that candy can be a motivator no matter how old you are. Giving opportunities for students to play little games that still involve learning is always a way to change things up a bit. I would look for the areas where they are improving, and encourage my student to keep pushing forward.

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

Revisit the content with a different approach. I would attempt to find several different approaches to the skill or concept to be sure I could efficiently and easily do so.

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

Sometimes students just need things broken down a bit more. First of all, I would let the student tell me in his or her own words what was taking place in a story I read out loud. Then I would direct them to read the same passage and explain what happened in their own words. Then the student would read the passage and answer some questions by writing the answers down.