What is your teaching philosophy?

My teaching philosophy is to meet each student where they're at, on their level, then show them what we're working towards, and finally help them fill in the pieces to complete the process. This can help them see how to solve something from start to finish and be confident during every step in between.

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

Talk with the student first to see what concepts they have been going over, and get them to rank their comfort with each concept so we can tackle the subjects they need the most help with. I would also go through a few practice problems to determine where the student might be having trouble arriving at the final answer.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

By helping the student figure out the tools that he or she needs to teach themselves new concepts, whether it be reading ahead in the textbook, looking up examples in their textbook or online, or practicing problems following the same outline as the examples, until they feel confident in obtaining new information on their own.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

By providing positive feedback and finding new ways to keep the sessions interesting, as well as making sure they remember their goals for their course.

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

I would try and find another way to explain the concept to the student based on their learning style, by using different interactive examples or visuals, or whatever they may need.