What is your teaching philosophy?

My teaching philosophy is to always be aware of my audience. Everyone learns differently across all age groups, so to be an effective tutor, I am confident in my knowledge of multiple different teaching styles, which ensure that important information is properly understood by my students.

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

While I would contact the student prior to our first session about topics to be covered, I would first get to know my student during our first session, so as to see what teaching methods are going to work best. I would then further discuss the topics to be covered and begin tutoring for the remainder of the session.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

During my academic career, I was very much an independent learner. While reading is an important part of independent learning, I found that I was able to better grasp topics by using teaching methods that allowed me to apply the knowledge gained from my reading, such as worksheets, sample quizzes, etc. I would use these various teaching methods to help a student become an independent learner.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I would first try to ensure that the teaching methods being used (lecturing, group discussion, etc.) were actually helping the student. If these were not sufficient, I would then use other teaching styles to supplement (worksheets, flashcards, practical applications, etc.) after discussing this with the student, in order to help him or her grasp the skill or concept.

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

If a student was struggling with reading comprehension, I would break down whatever the student was having difficulty with to its bare minimum. This would allow us to analyze each portion of the reading separately. After this, I would assist the student in putting it all together, in order to better make sense of what was being read. I would also supplement this with further study materials, such as worksheets or quizzes with more reading comprehension practice.

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

I have found that getting to know a student, beyond what needs to be tutored, is a very successful strategy when first starting to work with a student. This allows the tutor to get to know the student better, including his or her likes, dislikes, and hobbies. These are often beneficial pieces of information to better assist students with their studies. Getting to know the student better also gives me the opportunity to see what teaching methods are going to work best for this particular student.

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

I would help a student become engaged and excited about a subject that he or she is struggling with by attempting to use practical applications of the subject material. Ideally, these practical applications would relate to the student's likes and hobbies, so as to further engage and excite the student.

What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?

I would use worksheets, flashcards, practical application problems, and practice quizzes (both written and oral, and both multiple choice and fill in the blank) to be sure that a student understands the material being taught.

How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?

I would build a student's confidence in a subject by giving him or her an ample number of extra study materials, such as worksheets and quizzes, to further cement the topics and assess the student's level of understanding. Some of these would be done on the own student's time and reviewed later, while others, we would work on together.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

Successful communication is the first part of evaluating a student's needs. This would take place at the first session and at all following sessions, as a student's needs may change. Along with communicating with the student, I would use worksheets, practice quizzes, and practical applications to see what topics the student is grasping well and what topics the student is struggling with.

How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?

No one tutoring method works best for every student's needs. I pride myself on my ability to adapt my teaching style to whatever the student's needs may be. While some students learn best by listening to a lecture and taking notes, others learn best by using methods that apply the knowledge gained, i.e. worksheets, quizzes, etc. I would assess what tutoring styles are going to work best from the first session onward.

What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?

During a tutoring session, I would use relevant text books for reference, worksheets and flashcards, practical applications of the material, and practice quizzes. While some students will learn best from lecturing during a tutoring session, others will learn best from having an open discussion about the subject material. I feel confident in my ability to do both.