Osmar

What is your teaching philosophy?

Don't tell me the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon.

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

I like to get to know why someone is trying to learn something, since for a student that might mean grades, but for a professional it might mean better performance. I then like to identify someone's learning style and how I can complement it. Finally, I like to structure a studying strategy focusing on effectively achieving my client's goals.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

After identifying someone's motivation for studying, I can work with a student to set up practice problems, review studying material (whether that be video or text), and follow up with a student explaining technicalities of the material in simple terms.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I like to identify what motivates a student in the first place to tackle on a material and ultimately what track they are moving down. I can understand difficulty in excelling in a topic involves juggling all the other productions we have in our lives. Hence, I believe motivation involves a reminder of the importance of your past work, future possibilities, and what a student could have. I'm very understanding when it comes to motivational challenges, and am definitely willing to help students move forward past these hurdles.

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

Before attempting to find a solution for the student's struggle with reading comprehension, I like to do my best to understand how the student feels when they go through a reading session. Are they stressed and juggling multiple responsibilities all at once? Are they reading in a very distracting environment? Do they begin their reading sessions after having a full day and being tired? Do they have troubles focusing in general? These are some of the questions I may ask, but ultimately the next step is to suggest solutions to help them achieve better comprehension and retention.

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

I like to return to engineering, but with a bit of a human touch. I begin by understanding the student's motivations and goals. I continue by understanding the scope of the material and also the level of difficulty. Furthermore, I do my best to form a studying strategy to give the student the function they're looking for. My strategies will be based on a mix of a deadline/syllabus, the student's goals, and the time a student can have available to dedicate to the material. Finally, I'd like to say my best quality is in learning how to be flexible, and at the end of every session I like to set up our next meeting time or how they'd like to follow up on their learning strategy.