What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe that learning is founded in curiosity. I aim to instill in students a desire to learn more about a topic, and to discover why it is interesting or important to them. With this as a foundation, students enjoy the process of improving themselves (and their grades / test scores)!

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

My first session, in large part, is designed to get to know a student. I don't want to waste their time, so I want to learn what they hope to get from tutoring, and how their learning style can best help them get there. We will discuss a plan for success as well as attempt to identify weak spots in the student's past approaches. We will also attempt to structure the tutoring sessions in a way that is fun and engaging.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

1. Develop a schedule. Learning anything new requires work and patience, and therefore I encourage students to commit to a learning schedule and stick to it. 2. Cultivate curiosity. Despite all that talk of scheduling, learning new things should be fun. Students should want to improve and learn more about the subject. Without that, any gains in the subject will be short-lived. 3. Promote confidence. Students often struggle when they think they're unable to succeed. It is one of my prime goals to prove to them that they can - with hard work and confidence.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

It depends on the student. Some student will thrive on a rewards system - if they give themselves small rewards or presents when they accomplish something difficult. Others will prefer to motivate themselves on the go by making the lesson itself more engaging. For example, if a student is having difficulty writing a history paper and is not engaged with the subject, we could practice the core writing skills on a different subject to catch the student's interest.

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

My first step is to assess the student's reading comprehension when reading something that they genuinely enjoy. This helps to determine if the student is having trouble with the reading comprehension itself, so simply having trouble mustering the motivation to focus on a subject about which they care very little. If it's the former, we can narrow in on the problem. If it's the latter, we can work on techniques to help maintain the student's interest / engage their imagination.

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

It's always helpful to get to know a student. There's such a vast array of learning styles and preferences, and I think it's essential to determine which one will be more effective before diving into the tutoring itself. I like to ask some questions about likes and dislikes, as well as what a student really enjoys (and does not enjoy at all) about a class.