What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe in constructivist education. I also believe that students should be the drivers of their own knowledge. I work at a project-based school, and I think that this hands-on approach to education is a much more successful model. In sum, I believe that students should have a voice in their education while also pushing themselves to be stronger students and citizens.

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

In a first session, I would like to get to know how the student learns best and what the student's interests are. I want to be sure that I know how to best support the student. If a student is a visual learner, I want to know that up front so I can prepare more visual models for our sessions. I also want to know what the student's interests are so I can help connect the material they're learning with their outside knowledge.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I like to push productive struggle in students. So, I encourage students to try all steps that they can on their own, and then go one step further. So, I explain to students that growth only happens outside our comfort zone. So, as soon as you feel completely stuck, try to come to a solution. If it's wrong, you can reflect on why and re-work the problem. If it's right, you just gained confidence to push yourself in the future, and your mind grew.