What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe everyone learns differently, and it is my job to find out how you learn.

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

Find out their interests and what they do know so I know they are comfortable working with me and what our plan should be to get the best results.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

By encouraging them to have opinions, think for themselves, demonstrating how I got to a conclusion and also demonstrating different methods of memorization and note taking.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

By being encouraging and keeping the student engaged. Show them their opinions and ideas are valued, and also by making it fun and celebrating even the smallest accomplishment.

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

Ask questions, like how they came to that answer to better understand where the gap is-- like a gap in communication or maybe needing to use a different method to keep interest. Basically, adjusting the lessons to their way of thinking.

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

Teach them to use the pictures and other clues to figure out what's going on; tell them before you start reading that you are going to ask these questions, so they learn to pick out important details and listen for them. Depending on the student, practicing summarizing or using a lower level book to start may help; also, a lot is how you ask the question.

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

To be general, being on their level, using explanations, incorporating games, making sure they are comfortable with you (especially shy or young kids), definitely finding out what they already know and also getting their feedback.

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

Find out what they like and try to incorporate it; find out why they do not enjoy it and see if we can't improve on that; be encouraging, and make it enjoyable to learn the material.

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

Depending on the student, you can see it in their work, their grades, they can demonstrate it, I can have them teach me; it really depends on how they excel.

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

Praise and encouragement for every success. Be specific with the encouragement; for instance, " I love how you remembered to pause at the comma that time!".

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

Find out what they already know by having them demonstrate the knowledge, and talking to them about what they know and what they are learning in class.

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

By finding out what interests the student, how they learn and their personality (if they are hyper or sleepy or easily bored, etc.), and adjusting.

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

Depending on subject and age group, Play-Doh, white board, books, the alphabet, flashcards, etc.