What is your teaching philosophy?

My philosophy in teaching is promoting conceptual understanding and mastery over proficiency in answering questions. I want my students to understand why things work and how the concepts apply to problems, rather than just simply following a formula. I feel like this promotes critical thought and deeper retention of content.

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

In a first session with a student, I like to get to know the student, both mathematically and personally. I feel it is important to establish a personal connection and an academic connection to effectively educate and reach future goals.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I help students become independent learners by giving them a rigorous critical thought process when approaching learning, rather than teaching them to answer problems. I feel this makes students excited to understand more and look forward to independently learning.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I help motivate students by giving positive reinforcement to success, both in tutoring sessions and in their classroom assessments.

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

If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, I would spend extra time working with that concept, and then emphasizing its role in understanding other concepts they better understand. I feel like by giving contextualization to concepts students struggle with, they can better grasp it.

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

As someone who has worked a lot with students struggling with dyslexia and dysgraphia, this has been a big challenge I have overcome. I emphasize verbal and visual understandings of mathematical concepts over written lecture-based knowledge.

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

I find it most successful to work side by side with my students by writing in a common space (whether that be on paper or on a white board). I find that most students, like most humans, are natural pattern seekers, and can spot patterns in my work that can help them with their own work.

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

I would get a student excited in a subject area they are struggling in by connecting the concepts to things they care about and are interested in. From there, I can give them critical-thinking skills, which will help them engage themselves and pursue greater education/understanding.