What is your teaching philosophy?

My primary objective as an educator is to better my students' future, to open their minds to their endless abilities and explore their many opportunities. I believe my teaching method can help measure their successes through a genuine interest to learn and the ability to perform at a high level in the classroom.

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

In my initial session with students, I like to evaluate their learning style and get an understanding of what challenges they might face in the classroom or in their own time studying. It's important to grasp what challenges need to be overcome to make sure you are helping the student to understand the method of learning; not just the right and wrong answer, but the critical thinking process that leads to higher-order learning.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Students need guidance in understanding the process of critical thinking rather than just the path to the right answer. It's not about merely getting an assignment done; rather, it's about understanding what the assignment is teaching you and how that lesson can be used to produce something tangible.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Motivation with students is key. Relating school material with the student's individual interests is essential to teaching the student to stay motivated on their own agenda.

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

First, it's important for students to understand that everyone is a unique thinker. Not all learners have the same style of intellect, so there's no need to feel discouraged when they come across material they do not understand. It's not that you don't know the concept; it's just that you haven't practiced it yet!

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

Reading is a learned skill, just like anything else. Help the student to break down each reading component into individual segments, and then piece them together. The more practice, the easier it will get!

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

Understanding a student's interests, learning styles and challenges is the most important aspect of beginning to work with a student. I'd help to set a priority of higher-level thinking rather than merely assignment completion.

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

Simply asking a student if they understand a concept is not enough. As an educator, you have to engage with the student and ask interactive questions that can help lead to understanding what aspects of the material the student truly understands.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

As a cognitive scientist myself, I have learned that an educator can usually understand a student's learning needs through their own interests. By understanding what aspects of education attract a student naturally, an educator can usually find the challenges that a student faces just by analyzing the aspects of learning that they usually don't take an interest in.

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

My style of teaching tends to feed off of how the student is reacting. As a rule of thumb, I think it's always important to help push your thinking abilities beyond the norm, but it's important to understand when a student is overwhelmed and to help them understand to take challenges one small step at a time.

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

Technology is one of my favorite aspects of the current landscape of education. Simply lecturing and completing homework will not peak interests for the student or the educator, so it's fun to explore all of the educational technology resources that are available to help the student think outside the box and learn more about a subject.

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

Connecting a student to something they can produce with the material that they are learning allows a student to grasp the tangible possibilities of a skill or subject.

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

It is vital to help a student come to their own understanding of the process of thinking. Every student is fortunate enough to have their own unique way of thinking, and when a student struggles with a particular topic, there is no need to be discouraged; rather, they should be taught how to break down the components of a new topic and use their own style of learning to grasp the new content knowledge.