What is your teaching philosophy?

My teaching philosophy is based on building a relationship with the student, building a positive atmosphere, and then challenging the student based on their strengths and weaknesses. I want to be a tutor that knows when to listen and when to challenge.

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

First impressions are so important. I would find out what I can about the student and then tell the student about myself as well. Among other things, I'd be interested in finding their strengths and weaknesses, and hopefully some common ground that we can connect on.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Independence requires versatility and leadership requires confidence. So I am committed to challenging the weaknesses of my student so they can eliminate that weakness as much as possible and therefore work towards versatility. That would inherently bring confidence. But I think also as a tutor, I have the opportunity to give my student small successes, perhaps in problems more suited to their strengths. That would build confidence too.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

In my opinion, keeping a student motivated has to do with how the student is involved (or isn't involved) in the process. The barrier between the student and the teacher that can occur in many classrooms these days is honestly very tragic. If the student is invested in the process as an equal, and also if they understand why it's important, that really does go a long way. See, I haven't even brought up gold stars or whatever it might be. Little rewards like that can be worked in too (maybe ask the parents to participate in rewarding a student after an important milestone) but I'm focused on treating the student like a person so they know they are connected with their own education. Perhaps I would also paint the big picture for the student, so they know that their education will determine their success in whatever they want to do in life.

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

I would try to be creative and rephrase the problem and/or rephrase the solution so they can try to wrap their head around it. But I think there's a lot of value in taking a break and moving on to something else so we can come back to the problem area. Doing something over and over that just isn't working can create unneeded pressure and stress.

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

I would argue that students get hung up on reading, for whatever reason. So the goal for me as a tutor would be to take the pressure off of them somehow: read something they enjoy, break up the workload into pieces so it isn't overwhelming, something like that. There are a lot of things to try. Also, I would try to get the student to connect to the reading. Perhaps quiz them lightly after every sentence.