What is your teaching philosophy?

We all have what it takes to excel. Patience and kindness are exceptionally important when teaching. I am always learning, as are my students.

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

I really like to get to know each student a bit more upon our first session. Working to build a solid foundation in order to ensure trust and familiarity between one another is very important to me. We will begin our first session by reviewing the subject(s) you are looking to excel in, and I will answer any questions or concerns you may have about the process, my tutoring style and/or your preferences while working together. If you are comfortable, I would then like to dive right into working on whatever material is most pertinent to you at the moment. Depending on age, subject matter, and personality I will be able to cater the session to your benefit by creating and teaching effective studying skills and habits.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Becoming an independent learner is most definitely a trait that can be acquired with dedication and practice. Becoming an independent student requires utilization of certain habits, techniques, and skills. I will be going over and teaching you this material during our one-on-one sessions.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Educational motivation revolves around many factors. I will share a few with you here to give a better idea: 1. Questions and reminders: Ask yourself why you are working on this specific material? What will it help you achieve in the long run? Why is this work important to you? 2. Visualization: This technique can prove both motivational and inspirational. Visualizing the end result whether it be a degree, a graduation diploma, or an A+ on a report card can serve to be very helpful in promoting motivation and resilience.

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

There is no escaping difficult problems, skills, or concepts, everyone will run into this issue at some point or another. The answer of surpassing this difficulty lies within finding a solution that works for you personally. I will work hard to advocate and implement guidance that is most beneficial to you and your learning style/abilities.

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

Reading comprehension can be a tricky skill to conquer simply because it is considered a core skill set. This means it lays down rules for many other skills to be built upon and learned. The key to mastering reading comprehension lies within the golden rule of PATIENCE. Patience is a virtue and will need to be utilized during the process of learning a core skill set.

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

Effective strategies all depend on the individual you are working with. Each person responds differently to a proposed approach and therefore, personality, age, work ethic, and work material are all factors that shall be taken into account upon deciphering effective and useful strategies for learning.

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

I have found that excitement and motivation tend to be commonly intertwined emotions. Creating excitement all lies within piquing the student's interest or as some would say, "speak their language."

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

Review, review, and more review. You can never have too much review. In addition to this, there are thousands of techniques that can make learning and understanding assigned material fun. Flash cards, outlines, made up songs, acronyms and more! And don't forget the most important rule: always ask questions. Those who ask, are those who seek to understand.

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

Confidence can be built through learning and/or memorizing material that may have once been extremely confusing or difficult. Confidence will come naturally when the high scores and good grades start rolling in. Which, if you work with me, will naturally be showing up.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

The most important tool one can utilize to evaluate students' needs is through open and honest communication. This gives me the chance to properly assess where the student is at. For those students who are unaware of their needs and/or are too shy to discuss where they are struggling, a different approach can be taken. This approach consists of a very careful and detailed outlined review of the student's previous and current test scores. I also like to administer surveys for those individuals who would rather express their needs in written form as opposed to verbal form. This ensures that regardless of personality and/or age, I have created an intricately detailed system that will help me properly obtain and understand pertinent needs.

How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?

Tutoring and mentoring is all about learning how you are able to best help the student. The student should not have to worry about adapting to anything once they are placed with me. I am able to adapt and bring various tutoring styles to the table. My goal is to ensure that the student can focus on communicating and expressing their daily needs, so I am able to meet them where they are at. Within this process, I will be able to come up with the most conducive teaching solutions for their needs.

What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?

Flash cards, books, chalkboards and/or whiteboards. Depending on the age range and the subject, I am able to utilize many different materials to make our sessions fun and beneficial!