What is your teaching philosophy?

Understanding what it is you're doing is always the goal, but in the meantime get through the problem, and then do it 10 more times. You might feel like you're just memorizing it, but you'll be surprised how easy it is to understand something after doing this.

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

Talk about what math class they are taking and what they want to do after this class has been passed. Get a feeling for how they learn best; if they don't know, we should start figuring that out together.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Help them to better understand how they learn best. Also, make sure they don't fall behind, when you fall behind in math you need help to catch up.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

A lot of these courses weren't easy for me when I took them; you have to keep it in mind that if you study the material enough, you will understand it.

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

Try explaining it a different way. I'm pretty good at explaining things in a way that most people understand. Also, reassure them that this sometimes takes time and that if you work the problems enough times, understanding almost always follows.

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

Find out how well they understand the subject and how they learn best.

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

The two things that make a subject a pain for a student are��either simply not understanding it or not seeing the reason for learning the subject in the first place. These can usually be remedied by using real world examples; it helps people understand the subject better and start to see how this can be useful in the real world.