What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe that EVERY child has the potential to learn and be successful in their own way. It's up to the teacher to unlock the child's potential.

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

I would like to get to know the student a little. We may do an interest inventory so that I can better assess your child's learning styles. I would also get baseline data through a formal assessment.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

By teaching them the strategies they need to unlock their potential. Oftentimes, we teach our auditory or visual learners, but forget about the manipulatives needed by some learners or the music needed by others.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Letting them know they can do this constantly and celebrating the small stuff. Sometimes the small stuff is the hardest for them to learn, and they need encouragement!

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

Teach it in a different way! If they are still not getting it, try different approaches until they understand one. Common Core has opened that freedom up to teachers.

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

Getting them to draw pictures-- physically first-- and then getting them to form pictures or movies in their mind. Getting them to SEE and experience what they are reading greatly helps them understand what they are reading.

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

Getting baseline data, finding what prerequisite skills may be weak or just not understood and finding out what their learning styles are.

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

Not lecturing them to death! Allowing this to be an interactive conversation where they are explaining to me what's going on inside their minds. Humor never hurts either.

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

I want them to demonstrate their knowledge through application for a real-world problem or demonstrating through meta-cognition (thinking out loud) how they maneuvered their processes.

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

Celebrating the small victories. At first praising for all small things to build self-confidence, and then gradually making them work harder for the praise until it becomes intrinsic for them.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

Baseline data is so important. Finding out what they know and where their gaps in learning are; those are the most important parts.

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

It depends on how the student best learns. If they need manipulatives, we begin there. If we need to draw pictures or sing a silly song...no problem.

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

It depends on the student and subject. Paint, paper, crayons.... I am a terrible artist, but it's great for comprehension, music, and manipulatives.