What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe that all students are capable of learning more than they might think. There are many types of intelligences, and teaching is about playing to your students' strengths.

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

Establish a rapport, and figure out what they understand well. The better you understand a student's strengths and interests, the better able you are to help them address the things with which they struggle.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

By helping them understand that their education is not about memorizing facts or formulas, but mastering new ways of thinking about problems.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Education is a lifelong process, and it's important to recognize success along the way. In my experience, allowing students many opportunities to demonstrate knowledge of the skills they have mastered builds confidence and reminds them how far they've come, so far.

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

I help students struggling with reading comprehension by asking questions about the text and asking them to summarize what they've read. Starting small and building from there; from sentences, to paragraphs, to whole pages or chapters.

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

Having clear expectations, an agenda, and realistic goals goes a long way.

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

In my experience, you can often build student engagement and get them excited about a subject they struggle with by finding ways to connect it to their interests, academic or non-, and daily lives.

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

I ask a lot of questions along the way, and ask them to solve different types of problems that all require the students to apply a new concept or skill in different ways.

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

By starting small and taking time to recognize progress made towards a larger goal. There are always opportunities during a lesson or tutoring session to allow students to demonstrate their understanding of a concept or skill.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

To hone in on where a student is struggling, I often begin by asking a broad question that allows a student the opportunity to demonstrate at least some kind of understanding of a subject. I then follow up with narrower questions aimed at uncovering mastery, or lack of, of specific concepts and skills.

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

I pay close attention to them and ask a lot of questions. From there, you can quickly get a sense of what kind of learner they are and what type of teaching they respond well to.

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

The usual--colored pens, pencils, paper--as well as graphs and diagrams, news articles, and the occasional video.