What is your teaching philosophy?

My philosophies of teaching: * The best part of teaching is feeling proud of what your students accomplish. * A good teacher is someone for whom the student wants to work hard. * A teacher's most important skill is seeing things through students' eyes. * The students should be able to see themselves making progress. That's the psychological part of teaching. As for technique, I model, and monitor student work, and explain to correct mistakes. Students learn the most by working with guidance.

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

Find out what the student has mastered, has started mastering, and what she or he doesn't know. Find out why the student wants to learn this. A little "getting to know ya'", and then get to work tutoring.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

An independent learner doesn't need me! So, I show them what I would do. I model, and I think aloud so the student can follow *how* I am problem-solving, and not just that I am getting the right answer.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Everything is connected to everything else. Often, what makes a subject seems artificial is that it is taught in isolation. When physics is related to an everyday activity like driving, for instance, it seems more real.

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

I would break it down into smaller steps. Also, I would try a different style, such as something visual. This can help me understand what the student does and does not understand, as well as giving the student a different way to learn the material.

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

1. Think-aloud as I read, to display how I'm tackling comprehension puzzles as they occur. 2. Having the student draw a scene can help me understand what the student does and doesn't understand. 3. Vocabulary and roots. 4. Finding high-interest material (people read a grade level above their tested level when the material is high interest). 5. Frequent check-ins, so I know when comprehension breakdowns are occurring.