What is your teaching philosophy?

I like to engage with students on a personal level. What are you passionate about? What challenges you? How can we bring the two together to map a path toward success?

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

Let's get to know each other and spend some time reviewing what you like and don't like about school, test-prep, etc. How can we best work together to achieve your success?

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

It's not my job to lecture you (your teachers may do enough of that already!) - bring me your first attempts, drafts, or graded works, and let's look over them together. What do you think is good? What went wrong? You lead the way, and I'll provide the course correction and advising you need to take that attempt and polish it into a successful submission.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

It's good to remember what you're working towards - a grade that keeps you on the team, that college acceptance letter, or the feeling of success you've been missing in a class. I'll remind you of that when things get tough. And a funny youtube video every now and then doesn't hurt, either ...

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

There are as many ways to teach a topic as there are ways to understand it. We'll keep working until my method matches yours.

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

Reading is detective work - there are clues all over the page that can help you figure out what's going on. We'll look at those clues, but, more importantly, look at how you can gather them yourself.